Twilight Flight
by Ferrion Knight of Oblivion
Summary: Part three of the Twilight Sequence. After Sam's kidnapping, Lara, Luke and Sun travel to Endiness to find him. A different darkness has covered the land and new dragons have appeared. With a new power can they save another world before it's too late?
1. Prologue

"Where is she?"

"I've told you before I don't know!"

"Put him on the stretcher."

Sam stumbled across the room, two heavily armored guards lightly poking him in the back with their spears. Until about a day ago, Sam had been with Lara. They'd made it back to Earth, but then another portal had opened and Sam was kidnapped.

The guards grabbed Sam and forced him onto a steel table. They locked his hands into iron braces on the top side and did the same with his feet at the bottom of the table.

"Where is she?!" the figure in black asked again.

"Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you!" Sam coughed.

"Very determined, aren't you?"

All through the stone halls, iron barred gates and even out to the sea beyond the walls of this hell a scream could be heard, a blood chilling scream, then silence. From the torture room came the two guards, dragging Sam's limp body with them.

"We'll try again tomorrow," the figure in black laughed. She removed her hood to show ice blue eyes, pale skin and jet black hair. In her hand she fiddled with a light purple gem. "With the power of the Dark Dragoon and Lightning Dragoon on our side, nothing can go wrong."

* * *

Lara blinked her eyes open. Her vision was blurry, her head throbbing and her side stung with sudden pain. She blinked a few more times to clear her vision. She was lying in a hospital bed in a small room.

"Hey Lara!" a familiar voice exclaimed. Lara turned to find Sun and Luke standing next to her bed. "How're you feeling?"

"I've been better...What happened?" Lara asked.

"The medics had to knock you out," Luke explained. "You were already pretty damaged and trying to punch a hole in the floor wasn't helping."

"Wait, I was...? Sam! Where is he?!"

"You don't remember?"

"He got kidnapped."

"Yeah."

"Well did you find him yet?"

"We've picked up his life signs in a world called Endiness. But it's slowly growing weaker and weaker."

"What's that mean?"

"Most likely, he's dying."

"We have to go get him!" Lara tried to get out of the bed but found her arms held in leather straps. Her legs were tied together, then tied to the foot of the bed. "What the heck? Why do you have me in restraints?!"

"It wasn't my choice! General Peters doesn't want you to try opening a portal in the middle of the night."

"Just how would I be able to do that?"

"He was watching you guys in your first adventure, then the second. He knows you're smart enough to figure out something like the portals."

"Yeah, well, get them off me. I want to get Sam out before anything else happens!"

"Sorry, I can't."

"Why not?"

"Dr. Williams has you on morphine."

"...You're kidding, right?"

"Nope."

"When the heck did Dr. Williams get here?"

"He works for us, he worked for us before."

"He looks a lot like the General, are they related?"

"Half brothers."

"Whoa, starting to get light headed again."

"Morphine kicking in again. We'll go."

"What? No you don't have to."

"It'd be better if we did though. I'll see what I can do about getting to Endiness. We'll be back when you wake up."

Luke and Sun left the room, turning out the light and closing the door behind them. Lara lied there in the dark for a few moments, then fell asleep again under the power of the morphine.

"Sir, when should the portal be operational again?" Luke asked.

"It should be ready in a few hours," General Peters replied. "You and Sun will be ready to go in and bring Sam back."

"I think Lara should come."

"What? But she's under strict orders of Williams not to-"

"I know what Williams said, but this is her friend, she feels responsible for losing him, she should be the one to rescue him."

"...I suppose you're right. But the question is will she listen to you?"

"I doubt it."

"Then why should she go?"

"I want to test her."

"Very well. Tell the doctor to take her off the morphine and wake her as soon as possible."

"Yes sir!"

"And get her some food, she can't go into the unknown without a full stomach."


	2. First Visit to Hellena Prison

"Lara, we're going to be sending you in now," Luke explained as he led Lara to the portal laboratory. "In two hours, Sun and I will follow you."

"But why is it that I'm going in alone?" Lara asked. She was now dressed in a pair of jeans, a white shirt, dark leather boots, dark cloak and had been given a sword, bow and quiver full of arrows.

"We're giving you time to get Sam out of whatever danger he's in."

"By myself?"

"You don't want to do it?"

"I didn't say that. I'm just a bit surprised you'd let me do this on my own."

They walked through the double steel doors and entered the laboratory. The portal frame stood to the side of the room, glowing dark blue as it gained power.

"We're ready when you are sir," one of the scientists said.

"Come on Lara," Luke said. He led her to the stairs that went up to the portal frame. "Let's get this show on the road!"

The large computer next to the stairs blinked once, then opened the swirling blue portal. A light gust of wind was being dragged into the hole.

"You feel that breeze?"

"Yeah."

"That is your life line to Endiness. You grab it and don't let go of it for anything. Got it?"

"Got it."

"And keep this with you." Luke placed a small silver ring in Lara's hand. "It might be important. Good luck."

"Thanks."

Lara walked up the stairs and stood before the portal. The wind was just to her left. She brought her left hand up and clenched a fist, letting some wind pass through her. In the blink of an eye Lara suddenly found herself flying across space.

Stars so far away glowed with the bright sun behind Lara. She didn't dare look back at it. She didn't dare to try and take a breath for fear of finding no air.

She flew past three versions of Hyrule, Middle Earth, a few different versions of her own planet, one of which had what looked to be a large space station in orbit with the words 'Ark Angel' on the side.

She finally began to slow down as a new world came into sight. Mountains split the land into four areas. This must've been Endiness. She entered through the atmosphere of the world without a scratch.

The wind lightly placed her on top of a hill that over looked the ocean. A peninsula stretched out across the water. A great tower stood on the peninsula. It was iron and wood, steel and bronze.

* * *

Lara suddenly remembered where she'd seen it before. This was Hellena Prison, in a game called 'Legend of Dragoon'. She'd never beaten this game, but she knew where to go from here.

Lara ran down the hill and ran along the rocky path. The sun was starting to set now, the stars sparkling in the dark sky. She stopped before she came out into the open.

"Sam has to be in there," she said out loud. "But...Of course the trader's cart!" She hid in the shadows, behind a rock.

Just a few moments later, a horse drawn cart rolled past her. Once it was a little ways off, she jumped out and climbed onto the back of the cart. It took a short time for the cart to come to the drawbridge. Once it'd come to a stop, Lara lightly stepped off and hid on the left side of the cart on a small ledge, with a fifty foot drop just below.

"Seems to be right," a voice said. "Okay, you can go. Lower the bridge!"

Lara slipped around again, climbed into the cart and hid herself under a few blankets. The cart went for a short time, then stopped. She knew she'd made it in. The hard part now was getting around without being caught.

She clambered out from the cart and walked towards the stairs. She walked up a few steps when a voice behind her cried out. She whirled around to see the merchant standing behind two brown clad guards, both carrying a spear.

"You're coming with us," one of the guards said.

Lara drew out her sword and held it ready to fight. One guard leaped at her, she dodged and killed the man with a stab to the throat.

"Come here!" the other guard growled. He slashed his spear over the ground, tripping Lara and cutting through her left boot. A small trickle of blood came from a shallow wound in her foot.

Lara got up and sliced the guard in half with her sword. The merchant ran and hid in his cart after the two guards had fallen.

"Dang I should've asked Luke for medical supplies," Lara growled as she limped up the stairs. She came to the first of three floors. With each step she took a few drops of blood would fall on the dark floor.

She limped a short distance, then stopped when she heard fighting up ahead. She looked onward to see three guards fighting a man dressed in white and green armor. He had blond hair and brown eyes and held a spear for his weapon.

Lara quickly jumped in and stabbed a guard in the back. The guard stumbled a few steps, then fell over the wooden railing into the pit below. The man took out the other two guards in a few seconds, then turned to Lara.

"Who are you?" he asked. "Another guard?"

"No, I'm not!" Lara exclaimed. "I'm Lara."

"What're you doing here?"

"I'm trying to break my friend out."

"Only a fool would come here of their own free will."

"Could you help me?"

"Help you?"

"Find my friend."

"Well I couldn't just leave a girl here alone. So, yes, I'll help you. I'm Sir Lavitz, Commander of the First Knighthood of Bale. Call me Lavitz."

"Okay."

* * *

Lara and Lavitz ran down the halls and took the next few basket-lifts that brought them to the top floor. They came across a few patrols, but took them out quickly. Lara found the cell where Sam was supposed to be locked up.

"Sam?" she called. "You in there?"

There was no reply. Lara took one of the torches from the wall and held it up to shine into the cell. Sam was lying on the floor, either unconscious or paralyzed.

"Oh no!" Lara put the torch back and tried to break the lock on the door by smashing the hilt of her sword into it. "Stupid pad lock!"

"Ugh..."

Lara stopped and looked back through the iron bars of the cell door. Sam was sitting up and holding his head in both hands.

"Sam!" Lara sighed.

"Wha-?" Sam looked up at her with wide eyes. "Lara?! How the heck did you get here? And who's that?"

"This is Lavitz. No time to talk, I've got to break the pad lock."

"What about a key?" Lavitz suggested.

"I didn't think about the key."

"Well where is it?"

"Floor below us."

"Ugh!"

"Lara, what about magic?"

"Huh?" Lara asked.

"Come on, you must have some Twilight magic still, right?"

"I don't know."

"It's worth a shot, try it."

"Lavitz, step back." Lavitz backed off a few feet and kept look out on the halls. Lara tried focusing her energy on the rusty padlock. A sudden blast shot across Lara's heart as the padlock exploded. Lara leaned against the wall with one hand pressing tightly over her heart.

"What happened?" Sam asked. He got to his feet and stumbled to the gate. He pushed it open and stood next to Lara, ready to catch her.

"I-it's okay, I'm fine," Lara lied. She straightened up and tried to ignore the pain. "Let's get out of here. Can you walk?"

"Yeah, but I don't have a weapon."

"Take this for now," Lara handed him her sword and removed her bow from under her cloak. "We'll get you something better as soon as we get out of here and to a blacksmith."

They began down the ladders, lifts and levels to the first floor. There weren't any guards who tried to stop them, that seemed a bit odd. Once they reached the first floor they bolted for the entrance.


	3. Escape from Hellena, Enter Grassy Plains

A figure and several guards stood in their path. Lara noticed Sam went tense. She guessed the figure in the black was the girl he'd talked about.

"Think you're leaving?" the girl laughed. "No, not that we've got both of you here in one place, you're not going anywhere until Emperor Seth returns."

"_Emperor_ Seth?_" _Lara hissed. "Wow did that idiot finally learn to be nice to get high rank?"

"No, he fought his way to the top just as I have. He killed Emperor Doel and took his place."

"Well golly gee we might have to kill Seth then won't we?" Sam asked.

"Silence!" The girl raised her hand and shot a ball of lightning at Sam. The light rushed through his body, sending searing pain coursing in and around all his organs, bones and muscles.

"Sam!" Lara exclaimed. She grabbed him and held him up on his feet. He was unconscious, probably in shock. She quickly pulled Sam onto her back and held his hands tightly to keep him from falling. She was a great deal shorter than him, but just as strong.

"Would someone mind telling me what the heck's going on?" Lavitz asked. "Who's she? Who's this Seth and what happened to Emperor Doel?"

"I don't know who she is," Lara growled. "Seth is my son in a way and Seth killed Emperor Doel. Does that answer your questions?"

"Enough of this talk!" the girl snarled. "Guards, take them to the highest security cells. And keep them away from each other."

"Back off!" a new voice exclaimed. Three guards were pushed out of the way and beside the girl in black came Luke and Sun.

Luke was dressed in an orange armor plate body, gray pants, brown boots and an orange sweat band around his head, just above his eyebrows.

Sun wore a white tank-top, long blue skirt, brown boots and white wrist bands on her arms. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

"Where the heck have you two been?" Lara asked.

"We thought about waiting for another ten minutes, but Sam's life signs suddenly decreased so we ran all the way here," Luke replied. "Good thing too, looks like you can use some help."

"Ahh," the girl snarled. "The freak physic and the flame haired demon. Come to rescue your pathetic friends?"

"Lara, the ring!"

"Ring?"

Lara withdrew the ring from her pocket and held it up.

"Guards, quickly, take it from her!" the girl shouted.

"Put it on Lara! Quick!" Luke exclaimed.

* * *

Lara slipped the ring onto the middle finger of her right hand. There was a blinding light that engulfed the room. A second later, Lara found she and the other four were still standing in the corridor, but the guards and all left and the girl in black was no where to be seen.

"Where did they go?" Lara asked.

"They're still here in a sense," Luke began. "I'll explain once we get to safety, come on! I'll take Sam-"

"No, I've got him."

"Okay, don't have to snap."

They ran out from the prison, across the drawbridge, down the cobblestone path to the beach and into the hills. The lush grass blew lightly in the breeze. The sky above was bright and blue. It'd been near nightfall when Lara had arrived, had she been inside Hellena for the whole night?

They came to a river with a wooden bridge crossing over it. A little farm stood on the other side of the stream. The farm was empty and lifeless, probably another building taken control by the war. The house was bare, so they piled in.

Lara set Sam on the bed in the back corner of the room. She quickly checked him over and found he hadn't been injured as far as she could tell, other than a slight fever.

"Luke, did you bring any medical supplies with you?"

"Only a few bandages, I thought there were cities here with doctors."

"There are but the closest one is on the other side of the mountains to the north. Now tell me, what's this ring do?"

"It's a Time Ring. It allows the bearer and any he or she wishes to come, to be zapped into another time frame."

"Meaning?"

"You can travel through time approximately three days ahead."

"Who exactly are you people?" Lavitz asked.

"Trust me, it's better if you don't know."

"You've got a sort of memory problem," Lara lied. "If we explain it to you, you won't remember it."

"...I think it's more likely you don't trust me," Lavitz began. "Wise choice though."

"Ugh..." Lara whirled around and found Sam was waking up. "What...What happened?"

"You're okay," Lara sighed. "The girl shot lightning magic into you, I thought you'd have died at one point."

"Wait, then where are we now?"

"The farm in the hill lands."

"We escaped."

"Mhmm."

"Good to know we didn't end up staying there."

"You guys should get some rest," Luke laughed. "Sam was attacked, needs to get his energy back. Lara, the ring slowly drains your own energy, it's still doing it now."

"Oh," Lara pulled the ring off and stuck it into her pocket. The bright sunlight through the windows suddenly died to the darkness of night.

"We'll keep watch outside," Lavitz said. "It's fairly warm out there."

The other three left the small house, closing the door behind them. Lara sat in silence for a while.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Lara replied. "I just...I thought that the battle with Ganondorf would end this for good."

"So did the rest of us."

"Then I lost you for the second time..."

"But you got me back."

"What if I hadn't come in time though? What if--" Lara had to cut herself off to keep from crying. Sam sat up and pulled his legs over the edge of the bed.

"It's okay." He put a hand on Lara's shoulder.

"But-"

"Lara, if you hadn't come in time I might be dead. But you did come in time, you did get me out, that's all that matters."

"I guess..."

"Really, it's fine."

* * *

There was a knock at the door that jarred Lara from an uneasy sleep. She looked up to see Luke open the door from outside. The light of the new sun poured through the doorway and the windows.

"Hey," Luke said. "Got some clothes for you guys."

"Uhh thanks," Lara yawned. She glanced up to the bed where Sam was sound asleep.

"Need me to wake him up?"

"Nah, I'll get him. What time is it?"

"Not sure, but judging from the sun it's about eight in the morning."

"Right, we'll be out in a few minutes."

Luke set the clothes on a crate, then left and closed the door behind him. Lara quickly changed into her new clothes, She now wore a long sleeved off-white tunic trimmed in blue, a light weighted chain mail shirt underneath, thin brown leggings and brown boots. She looked over herself for a short few seconds.

"New clothes?" Sam asked. Lara jumped at least a foot off the ground and whirled around to face him. "Whoa! Sorry, didn't mean to scare you like that."

"No, it's okay," Lara sighed. "I'm just didn't expect you to say anything."

"Any new clothes for me? My clothes right now are covered in dirt and blood..."

"Yeah, the other clothes on the crate are yours." Lara put her old clothes and cloak into her bag and walked to the door. "I'll be outside."

"Right."

Lara exited the cabin and closed the door behind her. The other three were sitting next to a tree that was just a few yards from the shed.

"Morning," Lara said.

"How is Sam doing?" Sun asked.

"He seems better now, but I'm gonna keep a close eye on him just in case something happens."

"Wise choice," Lavitz said.

"Ahh, here he comes now," Luke said.

* * *

Lara turned to see Sam walk out of the small house. He was now dressed in a brown-yellow tunic with off-white leggings and brown boots. He had shoulder guards that seemed to be made from bone and were lined with fur. His boots were also edged with fur.

"Wow," Sun laughed. "You look pretty good. Doesn't he Lara?"

"Uhh, yeah," Lara said hastily. She looked at the ground as she felt her face growing hot.

"Still blushing, huh?" Sam asked. He walked up to her and lightly tipped her head up to look at him. "We should try to see if there's something we can do about that when we get home again."

"Trust me, I've tried."

"Hey, Luke," Sam looked over at the orange clad teen. "How come the four of us look almost exactly like people who're main characters in this game?"

"When we found you here, we found that four people who lived here went missing. Dart, Shana, Meru and Kongol."

"So in order for us to fit in we had to replace them?"

"Pretty much."

"That makes sense. But what about Rose and Haschel? They were killed trying to rescue me."

"I'm not sure what happened to them, but they both had some sort of power that was stolen from them shortly before they were killed."

"The Dragoon Spirits," Sam and Lara said at the same time.

"Yes."

"But what about the other Spirits? Were they stolen as well?" Lara asked.

"I don't know for sure. One thing I do know, is that three new dragons have appeared."

"Three?"

"White-Silver, Red-Eye, and Gold."

"New dragons..." Sam began. "We'll be in big trouble if we come across any of them. Light is weak to Darkness, we don't have Rose. Fire is weak to water, but we have Sun here. Wind is strong against Earth but we can't be for sure if we'll run into it."

"So what's that mean?" Lavitz asked.

"It means we're sunk until we've each gotten our respected Dragoon Spirits. Wait, when did you understand any of this?"

"I'm not as stupid as most people think. You guys, you're either from the future, another world, or both. And I'm guessing it's more likely to be the future because of that ring Lara has."

"Dang, you're a fast reader," Lara said. "Can you usually tell this fast about a person's intentions?"

"Not usually, but my guess with you four is something came into this world that isn't meant to be here. So you came to try and capture it and take it back to where it belongs."

"Mostly right," Luke laughed.

"Well, let's get moving. We'll get to Bale by night fall."

* * *

**Ferrion: Guess what. I'm sick! Joy beyond joy! Note the total sarcasm. Anyhow, the story seems to coming along nicely, been having problems with details for later on but that's why the real Sam is here to help me out with that stuff. He thought up of that Time Ring, FYI. So anyway, next chapter should be up in a little while, not sure exactly since I'm sick and have been sick all week. **


	4. Through the Cave and into Bale

"How're you holding up?" Lara asked.

"Fine," Sam replied. "Better than most people would after being electrocuted."

The hills were far behind them by now. It was early afternoon. They'd nearly reached the mountain cave. The sky was becoming dark with storm clouds. The wind had picked up.

"There's the cave," Lavitz said. They stood at the top of a low hill, looking down to the mountains just before them. A gloomy cave was at the base of the rocks, giving a sick blue glow from within.

"Let's get inside," Luke said. "This storm is gonna break lose at any minute. I don't think any of us want to be stuck in it."

Just as they entered the cave, the sky above began to cry it's tears. The wind howled, the thunder crashed, the lightning flashed. Within the cave the thundering was increased in sound.

"Luke..." Sun began.

"It's okay," Luke said. He hugged her tightly to comfort her. "It won't hurt you. We're safe here."

"Come on," Lavtiz said. He quickly lit a torch and held it up to light the room. "It's this way."

The cave was damp and cold. Lara shivered in the chill as another shot of pain rushed over her. She continued to ignore it and make it seem to the others that she was all right.

They went through the many chambers. In and around stalagmites and stalactites. Over stepping stones that rested in a fierce river. Finally they came to a large chamber, with the rocky floor just above a dark lake. There were splashes in the water, Lara glanced down to see bony tail fins vanish into the shadows.

"Skeleton creatures?" she asked. "They were never here."

"They might've been placed here by Seth. There's no telling what he would do with so much power," Sam replied.

There was a loud roar ahead of them. They all stopped dead in their tracks and looked ahead.

"It's the centipede."

"Yeah. Everyone, get ready!"

* * *

They each withdrew their weapons and stood ready to fight. A giant centipede rushed out of a hole set into the pillar that reached from the floor to the ceiling. It was at least two feet in diameter and seventy feet long. It had razor sharp fangs, snake-like tongue and an ill smell of burning flesh.

"Sun, stay back!" Luke exclaimed. Sun took a few steps back, but stayed close enough to fight if she needed to. Lara saw a quick flash from Sun's hand. Sunlight streamed through a hole in the ceiling.

On Sun's third finger on her left hand was a platinum gold ring. Lara quickly looked at Luke's left hand and found a ring identical to Sun's on his third finger.

"Lara!" Sam exclaimed. Lara snapped back to reality and found the centipede rushing at her. Lavitz jumped out of nowhere and pulled Lara out of the path of the creature.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lara replied. Her foot was hurting now more than ever, but she continued to ignore it. The centipede came at them again. Lara pulled an arrow from her quiver and put it in place on the bow string. She pulled back and let it go, shooting the arrow through the creature's skull.

The arrow went through the armor-like skin like a knife into soft butter. The creature collapsed and lied motionless as green liquid dripped from it's mouth and the newly made hole in it's skull.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Lara replied. "Luke, Sun, you two all right?"

"Yeah, we're good," Luke called.

"Let's get moving," Lavitz said.

It was near night fall when they came to the captiol, Bale. It was a grand little city, partly built upon pillars that stretched up from the water below a twenty foot cliff. The houses were grand, each made of the same maple wood. To the east of the city was the castle.

Standing at five floors, built with gray stone and maple wood, the castle was elegant, yet simple at the same time. Lavitz led them up the wooden stairs into the castle. A marble staircase greeted them with the soft glow of candles that hung upon the walls. A crystal chandler was held above them by a strong chain.

* * *

They climbed up the stairs, took a left then a right and entered into a small throne room. The green carpeted floor was freshly cleaned. The walls were a rich cream color. A man sat upon the bronze throne. He was clad in green and silver, his hair and eyes were brown. Upon his head rested a circlet of silver.

"King Albert," Lavitz said. He bowed to his king and motioned for the others to bow as well. They did so. "I've returned from the battlefield and brought friends with me."

"Sir Lavitz!" the king exclaimed. "I was worried when the second Knighthood had brought word you and your men had been taken captive."

"To Hellena Prison, m'lord. But I escaped and helped these two get out as well." He motioned to Sam and Lara.

"We're having a meeting soon. Your friends are welcome to stay until we've finished. There's a lovely view from the balcony."

"Come on, Sun," Lara whispered. She stood up and dragged Sun outside with her. The other two didn't follow.

The view outside was quite amazing. The dusk sky was clear and filled with stars. The fields before the city glowed blue in the moon light. All along the streets were lit torches that hung from the walls by metal brackets.

"Sun," Lara began. "I noticed-"

"I figured you would," Sun laughed. She held up her left hand. "Yes, Luke and I married before we came after you."

"But you said two hours. How can you-"

"Two hours of your time not earth time. You were gone for two days before we came in."

"Oh. Weird, time went faster in Hyrule than Earth."

"Earth moves faster than Endiness."

Lara looked out across the grass lands to the mountains beyond. Deep within the Fire Plains lived the great Fire Bird. It was big as an elephant and made purely of flames. But now as Lara looked towards where the Fire Plains rested, something felt wrong, as if there was a danger coming.


	5. Fight Fire with Fire

"Say, what's that?" Sun asked. She pointed down to the field below. Lara looked down. Something red slithered across the grass, going unnoticed by the sleeping city. From the flattened grass where the red shape emerged grew smoldering ashes. 

"No," Lara gasped. "Not this early, not now!"

"What is it?"

"It's the Red-Eye dragon!"

"Are you sure?"

"There's nothing else that might even be able to do that. Or be that big."

"Well what do we do?"

Lara quickly racked her brain for some idea of what to do. The first dragon wasn't supposed to be fought until long after they left Bale. If they did nothing now the city would be destroyed. If they tried fighting they might very well get killed.

"Go back inside and get the other two," she finally said.

"What about you?"

"I'm going to head it off."

"By yourself?!"

"I'm the fastest runner I can hold it off until you guys get there."

"...Okay, just be careful."

"Don't worry about me, just get the guys."

Lara leaped over railing and landed on the roof below which was only a few feet down. A thick rope was tied from the roof to the ground. Lara climbed down the rope and bolted down the streets to the main gate of the city.

The red form was just a few kilometers away. Lara cocked an arrow onto her bowstring, pulled back and aimed for the creature. The dragon reared up, showing itself in the moonlight.

It looked to be a Chinese dragon. It had two front legs with long sharp claws, but no back legs or wings. It roared with it's great voice and lunged forward to attack the city. Lara let the arrow fly, it hit one of the dragon's bright green eyes.

The creature snarled and looked around to find where the arrow had come from. It spotted Lara in the light of the moon and the torches. It leaped at her and slashed her with a powerful claw, throwing her into the stone wall. Her tunic was torn but the claw hadn't reached her stomach.

She staggered to her feet and cocked another arrow. As she let the arrow fly, the dragon dodged the weapon and grabbed Lara by it's jaws. The razor sharp teeth barely pressed against her skin, but it felt to Lara as if a thousand needles had been stuck into her.

* * *

"Sparkball!" 

A blast of lightning hit the dragon, forcing it to drop Lara from about twenty-five feet in the air. She felt someone grab her in mid-air and hold her close.

"Lara!" Sam's voice exclaimed. Lara looked up to see it was Sam who'd grabbed her. She didn't have enough energy to reply, so she looked at her shaking hands. Sam seemed to understand.

"Sam, we need help!" Luke exclaimed.

"I'm coming!" Sam replied. He rushed to the gate and placed Lara on the ground, behind the gate to protect her from any attacks. "Stay here, okay?"

Lara nodded grimly. She knew right away that Sam was mad she'd attempted to fight the dragon on her own. It might not have been so bad if she'd never played the game, but she had and she knew full well how dangerous and powerful the dragons were.

Sam ran out to the grass again. Sun had her long demon claws dug into the dragon's skull. Luke was avoiding fire magic attacks from the creature. Sam withdrew his sword and bolted forward, slicing through the dragon's scaly skin.

The dragon lashed out at him with a claw, missing him by inches. Sun was thrown loose from the monster's skull and landing on top of Luke, sending them both into the grass.

The Red-Eye dragon reared up and opened it's mouth, readying itself to blast the entire city in a wave of fire breath. An arrow with a small bag tied to it flew from the gate and stuck itself into the dragon's mouth. The monster shut it's mouth as the fire began to rush out.

All of a sudden the dragon exploded in a ball of flame from the inside-out. Sam stared in shock as the creature quickly burned to ashes. He turned to the gate, Lara had moved around to get a proper shot at the dragon. A small barrel of gun powder sat next to her.

Sun and Luke stood up and watched as the dragon burned. Sam rushed to Lara and knelt down beside her.

"Yo-you're mad at me, aren't you?" Lara spattered.

"No," Sam replied. He hugged her tightly. "You just got me worried." Lara sighed, then passed out from exhaustion.

A crowd of guards rushed down the streets to gate. Sam looked over his shoulder to see Lavitz in the lead. He lifted Lara up in his arms and turned to the guards.

"What's happened?" Lavitz asked.

"You all just missed the first dragon," Sam laughed. "Now, you've got to have a doctor or nurse in town right?"


	6. An Old Ally

Luke and Sun watched as Lavitz led Sam to the medical clinic in the city. They still stood in the grass. The dragon had long since burned to ash. Luke glanced over at the soot on the ground. Something caught his eye.

"What is that?" he pondered. He walked over to the pile and picked up what looked to be a small red stone.

"A stone?" Sun asked. "What would a dragon want with a stone?"

"I'm not sure." He turned the pebble over in his hand a few times then pocketed it. "Might be important. I'll hold on to it. Come on, let's see if we can help Sam."

They walked into town and found Lavitz standing outside a small building. He nodded to them as they passed. They entered the building and found Sam standing in the first room.

"How's she doing?" Sun asked.

"The doctor is doing everything he can," Sam said. "But he's not sure when she'll regain consciousness. It could be a few hours it could be a few days."

"Anything we can help with?" Luke asked.

"Go to the item store. Get any potions and cures you can."

"A'right."

"Excuse me," a young girl's voice said. She pulled back the curtain that hung in front of the doorway. "The doctor has done all he can. But she's still unconscious."

"Can I sit with her?" Sam asked.

"It might help to wake her if she had a friend near. Come on back."

"Go ahead a go, guys. I'll stay here until Lara wakes up."

"You sure you don't want to have one of us stay?" Sun asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Luke and Sun nodded. They turned and left the building. Sam went into the back room. Lara was lying on a bed. Most of the wounds were healed.

Sam grabbed a chair from beside the wall and set it next to Lara's bed. He sat down and lightly gripped Lara's hand. He had heard once that if someone was unconscious or in a coma, they could still feel things in the real world, such as holding hands.

He sat for an hour or so before he fell asleep. When he woke up, he was still holding Lara's hand and she was still unconscious. Sam glanced out the window, the sun was raising.

Sam sighed and began to let go of Lara's hand. All of a sudden, Lara grabbed his hand before it was out of reach.

"Lara?" Sam asked. He looked at her to see she was waking up. "Lara!"

"Sam? What happened?" Lara asked. She opened her eyes and looked around the room.

"You killed the Red-Eye dragon. But you passed out. Been out for at least six hours."

"We need to get moving." Lara said. She sat up and attempted to stand up.

"Oh, no you don't!" Sam grabbed her and put her back on the bed. "You're not going anywhere for a bit."

"But-"

"You've been hurt!"

"I know, but we can't stay here until I'm completely better!"

"Why not? Do you have anything you need to do?"

"No, but..." She had nothing she could use as defense so she just stopped talking.

"Listen, I know you don't like to be in the spotlight, but right now you're too weak to go anywhere."

"I know..."

"Uhh...Do you guys want to be left alone?" a new voice asked.

Sam and Lara both turned to see Luke and Sun standing in the doorway. They looked back at each other with the sudden realization that Sam was still holding Lara down to the bed.

Sam let go of Lara and sat in the chair again, his face getting warm with embarrassment. Lara's face was bright red.

"Having a 'heart-to-heart' moment?" Luke laughed.

"Oh, shut it," Lara sighed.

"Anyway, the doctor said that if we carried Lara she'll be okay to travel today. But she shouldn't walk until tomorrow and she's got to rest."

"I refuse to be such a burden to ya'll if I can't do anything. It's my fault I've gotten hurt, I'll stay here and-"

"-And escape as soon as night falls?" Sam asked. The warmth in his face began to decrease. "I'm not leaving you here so you can escape. If I have to carry you for the whole of this adventure, I will."

"You have got to be kidding..."

"We'll leave after lunch."

"Might I be able to get you to come to Hoax with me?" Lavitz asked. He had just entered the room. "There's word that another dragon is being controlled by the Sandora army."

"Sure thing," Luke said. "It's on he way out of here right?"

"It's more like a two day walk," Sam laughed. "But it might take longer since we'll be carrying Lara."

"We have a small medic at Hoax," Lavitz said. "I'm sure they'd let Lara stay there until we leave again."

"'We'?"

"I'm coming with you on this quest to get back to your own home. You'll need someone who knows the land, right?"

"Yes, I suppose we do. Thanks."

"Now then, after lunch you said?"

* * *

The group set out just have lunch time. Sam carried Lara on his back. Luke and Sun walked a little ahead to look out for any dangers. Lavitz was in back, keeping look out for anything coming from behind.

"So how far is it to Hoax?" Lara asked.

"We'll be there by tomorrow morning," Lavitz replied.

"Then I can help with any fighting that goes on, right?"

"Well the doctor said not to. But if you feel up to it then try."

"Okay."

Sam wondered what was going to happen now. He had taken Kongol's place and was already a part of the group. So who or what was about to attack Hoax?

"Maybe that girl?" Lara interrupted Sam's thoughts. He glanced back at her with a look of confusion. "Not hard to tell what you were thinking about."

"That obvious huh?" Sam laughed. "Yeah, I don't know what happens next since the disappearance of the original party. I should be attacking Hoax, but I can't, cause I'm here."

"Well, maybe nothing will happen. Maybe another Giaganto will take his place?"

"I don't know."

"Don't worry about it now. It won't be until tomorrow night anyhow, we'll think of a plan before then."

* * *

Late the next morning, the group entered into Hoax. It was a small village built along the side of a mountain. A lush green forest spread over the hills and cliffs.

The village had several small houses, each made of oak, boulders and straw for roofs. There was a larger building in the center of the houses, most likely a town center or inn. A flight of stone steps led to a higher cliff where a small chapel stood. Like the houses, it was built from oak and rock, but the roof was made from wood.

The streets were brown cobblestone, damp from a light shower that was starting. The darkening clouds above were swollen with water.

"Guard!" Lavitz called. A young solider dressed in blue and gray armor ran up to them. "Where's your commander?"

"Inside, sir!"

"Good. Take this girl to into the inn, make sure she gets some rest."

"Yes sir!"

"Sam, you can go with Lara if you want but it might be better if you came and spoke with the commander."

"Lara, think you'll be all right for a little bit by yourself?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'll be okay," Lara replied.

The guard led Lara up a flight of wooden stairs to the upper level of the large building. Lavitz and the other entered into the lower level. A few guards stood at attention by the door, while a third figure sat behind a table.

The figure was dressed in blue and black, with a silver helmet over it's head. The person looked up, stood and removed it's headgear. Standing before them was a young woman, around twenty years of age, with pale skin, red-brown hair and violet eyes.

"S-Sage?!" Sam and Luke exclaimed.

"Sam? Luke?" Sage asked. "What're you doing here? I thought you'd have gone back home by now!"

"We did but I was kidnapped and ended up here," Sam sighed.

"You all know each other?" Lavitz asked.

"Yes, she's a...friend of Lara's."

"Oh."

"Where is she?" Sage asked.

"She's upstairs in the inn."

"I need to speak with her. But first, the battle plans... I should think Sam and Luke can guard the gate for the night shift. Right?"

"Yeah," Luke replied.

"Lavitz, I'd also like you to help them. Sun, will you and Lara stay at the inn and attack any possible invaders who get in?"

"If Lara is up to fighting," Sun replied. "We'll do our best."

"Now, I must speak with Lara, she must have some news about what's going on."

* * *

Lara lied down on the bed and tried to think about what would happen later on in the original story line. She dowsed off for a short time, lost in her thoughts. She jerked awake with a sudden nag that someone was in the room other than herself.

She sat up and found Sage standing at the foot of the bed.

"Sage?" she asked. "What're you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Sage replied. "You're supposed to be home on Earth."

"We got side-tracked."

"So I've heard. In any case, I have questions for you."

"Okay. Shoot."

"Have you noticed a stale taste on the wind? As there was when Seth was on the loose?"

"Can't say that I have."

"Interesting..."

"How did you get here?"

"Seth escaped through a portal. I demanded Midna and Zelda to stay behind and I jumped in after him. When I woke up, I found myself here and I must have taken the place of someone as Sam took the place of Link."

"So it seems we are still tied together."

"You are my mother in a way."

"Even so, I don't completely understand what's happened recently."

"Think no more of it. Rest. You and Sun shall guard the inn tonight. Sam, Luke and Lavitz shall watch the gates."

"Okay. But didn't you want to ask me a few more questions?"

"They can wait until tomorrow."

"You don't know who'll live or die tonight."

"But I know you. You're not likely to die."


	7. Battle in Hoax

Night fell across the land, draping Hoax in a sheet of rain and shadows. Lanterns were lit to brighten the streets. Townspeople rushed to their houses and into cellars. 

Sam stood above the stone gate, looking out into the woods. He knew the enemy would come from the other direction, but something didn't feel right. Something felt out of place, out of order.

"Sam, you're spacing out almost as bad as Lara does," Luke interrupted Sam's thoughts.

"Sorry," Sam sighed. He had his cloak on and hood up to protect his hearing aid from the rain. "Just thinking."

"That's what she says."

"Something just doesn't feel right."

"He's right," Lavitz said. "Something is wrong."

They stood in silence for a time, listening to the rain as the clouds cried over the town. There was a sudden yell. All three whirled around. A solider was lying in the center of the courtyard, an arrow through his heart.

"We're under attack!" someone called from above.

"Everyone! Battle stations!" Sage's voice yelled.

The city was becoming over run with soldiers in brown. The guards of Bale put up their fight, taking as many as they could before they fell. Sam, Luke and Lavitz were fighting back-to-back, keeping an eye on each other while taking down enemies.

Sam glanced up to the inn, Sun and Lara were fighting three of the Sandora soldiers. His moment of distraction was enough for one of the other fighters to slash Sam's arm.

Sam yelled and collapsed to the ground, holding the wound to stop the bleeding. Luke jumped in and killed the few soldiers that remained.

"Sam, you all right?" he asked.

"I'll be fine, keep fighting!"

* * *

A sudden booming roar rang across the village, freezing everyone and everything that heard it. Sam looked up to the sky. Amidst the dark clouds was a giant form, with a large wing span and long lizard-like tail.

"D-dragon!" the Sandora men exclaimed. "Retreat!"

The soldiers in brown rushed out of the gates, but a few of the stronger stood still, wanting to try and take the village. The dragon swooped down from the darkness and flew just feet away from the tallest roof of the town.

The shock wave blew roofs off, crushed stairs and decks. The roof of a house came clear off and smashed down over a section of the courtyard. Sam was cut off from the others by the rubble.

A torch fell from the top of the gate and tumbled onto the roof of the headquarters. The straw and wood erupted in flame and showered down over the courtyard. Sun and Lara were caught in the rain of fire.

"Sun!" Luke exclaimed.

Lara turned to face the down flow or fire and held her hands up. The flames danced pasted them as a black-red-and-green ball of light surrounded the two. It was the last of the Twilight magic she had and she knew it wouldn't hold out for long.

"Sun, you've got to run!" she growled. "My magic won't hold long, you need to get down to Luke!"

"I can't just leave you alone though," Sun protested.

"Do you want to get hit with the back lash of this thing?!"

"No, but-"

"Then go!"

* * *

Sun sighed, then rushed out from under the barrier and was immediately grabbed by Luke. Less than a few seconds passed when Lara's magic gave out. As the wall vanished, Lara leaped from the deck and rolled across the cobblestone courtyard.

Sam sliced the last invader in half, then ran forward and jumped over the pile of rubble. He looked up to see the others were facing off with the Gold dragon. He ran forward and joined the others in the fight with the creature.

But as soon as he joined the fight, the dragon stopped fighting. It just looked at him.

'Little one, I've been looking for you,' a deep raspy voice said in Sam's mind.

'Who're you?' Sam asked.

'I am the Gold dragon.'

'How can you be talking to me in my mind?'

'You and I are a bit on the telepathic side.'

'Oh.'

'I came looking for you. But I had not searched my territory for a time and had not realized there was a stronghold here.'

'It belongs to the kingdom of Bale.'

'So it seems. But I must hurry child. My time grows late.'

The dragon reached forward with it's neck and head and dropped something on the ground at Sam's feet. A brown-yellow stone.

'The Gold Dragoon Spirit?' Sam asked. He picked it up and looked back at the dragon.

'Use this power to bring an end to the war. May we meet again.'

The dragon stretched it's wings and took flight once again, vanishing into the dark sky. Sam looked back down at the stone resting in his hand. The rain continued to pour down, soaking the stone quickly.

The stone began to glow. The light quickly spread over Sam's body. He hadn't remembered this happening before, but it might have been part of the transformation to Dragoon form. The light faded away and Sam finally looked up at the others.

They were all in shock of what had just happened. Sam sighed and felt a sudden drain of energy rush over him. His legs were wanting to give up and drop him onto the ground, but he refused to let them.

"You okay?" Lara asked. She stepped forward and stood right in front of him. She must've felt something was wrong.

"I'm really tired all of a sudden..." Sam replied.

"We should get you inside then."

Sam glanced over his shoulder to see the flames were being put out by the guards. The invasion had failed. Hoax still stood strong.


	8. Travel through Volcanic Land

"So, tell me what all of this is about the dragon," Sage asked.

"I'm not exactly sure what happened," Lara replied. "Sam told me what'd happened from his point of view, but no one else heard the dragon speak."

"Could he have imagined it?" Sun asked.

"No, that's not likely. He rarely lies and I can catch him on it most of the time. But..." She glanced over to where Sam was sleeping on one of the beds of the inn. "I'm worried."

"He'll be fine," Sage said. "His mind is free from any sickness. He's in perfect health except for the injuries in battle."

"Seems that the extra senses I gave you help after all."

Luke and Lavitz came in at that moment. Both were sweating from the work of cleaning the mess of the battle.

"How is it looking out there?" Sage asked.

"It's going good," Lavitz reported. "Most of the villagers have begun to help in rebuilding the buildings that were damaged."

"The storm has broken up, the sun is out," Luke added. "It's drying up the blood but we should be able to have it cleaned by tonight."

"Tell me, what does this stone have to do with the dragon?" Sage asked.

"It's not an ordinary stone," Lara explained. "It's a stone of the magic and spirit of the Gold Dragoon."

"But what does that mean?"

"Whenever Sam wakes up he can show you."

"Lara, I found another stone like this one from the Gold dragon, but this one is red," Luke said.

"Red? Can I see it?"

Luke withdrew the red stone from his bag and handed it to Lara. She held it up to shine against the incoming sunlight.

"When did you get this?"

"After we killed the Red-Eye dragon."

"This is worse than I thought..."

"What is?" Sun asked.

"If Luke got the Red-Eye Dragoon Spirit after we killed the dragon, it's most likely the other dragons are also alive and each of them have their respected Dragoon Spirits."

"Meaning?" Lavitz asked.

"Meaning we're gonna have to fight some of the toughest dragons to finish this once and for all."

"We're gonna have to fight the dragons?" Sam's voice asked.

Lara jumped in surprise and whirled around to see Sam standing right behind her.

"Gosh, what the heck!" Lara exclaimed.

"Seems I'm still sneaky," Sam replied. He grinned at her. "Even if I'm limping a bit. Now," he straightened up and was suddenly serious. "What's this about the dragons?"

"Luke found the Red-Eye Dragoon after we killed the Red dragon."

"Oh."

"If my suspicions are correct--"

"Lady Sage!" a voice exclaimed. One of the youngest guards ran into the room. "Word from the Seventh Knighthood! They're under attack of another dragon!"

"What?!" Sage gasped.

"Where did it come from?" Lavitz asked.

"Feybrand," Sam said. "The Jade dragon. Came from the poison forest beyond the volcanic land."

"Then lets go!" Sage exclaimed.

"You're coming with us?" Lara asked.

"I was in this since the start, I'm not going to leave now."

* * *

It was nightfall when they reached the Volcano Villude. The starry night sky above shined over the blazing red flames of this burning valley. The fires lapped at stone, attempt to escape from it's prison. The great lake of lava boiled and large bubbles would explode, sending the molten fire in all directions. Smoke grew up from the rocks that quickly melted in the fires.

"Okay," Sam gasped. He wiped the sweat from his face. "Where now?"

"You don't know?" Lara asked. She, and everyone else were panting from the heat. Luke was burning up as well, even though he held on to the Red-Eye Dragoon Spirit.

"I did this part as fast as I could, didn't bother to check where I was going."

"Okay, I'll lead then."

"Please, can we rest a few minutes?" Sun sighed.

"We won't last long here we have to keep moving."

"But I'm too tired to go any farther."

"I'll carry you," Luke laughed. He picked Sun up and nodded to Lara to lead on.

They walked a short distance before there was a sudden explosion from the center of the fire lake. A great bird rose out from the lava. It was like a phoenix, but it was the size of a dragon.

"What is that?" Lavitz asked.

"A demon?" Sage asked. "Or perhaps another dragon?"

"No," Sam sighed. "It's a Fire Bird, otherwise known as a Giant Phoenix."

"Should we run or something?" Luke asked.

"It would be a good idea yeah," Lara began. "But we'll just draw attention to ourselves that way."

"It's gonna notice us anyhow, what's the difference?" Sam asked.

"...You have a point. Come on!"

Lara led the way down the rocky path and to the entrance of the volcanic cavern. It wasn't long before they were well beyond the mouth of the cave and too far for the creature to reach them.

They came to a river of lava. Rough, heavy stones that couldn't be melted by the fire-water stood up above it to make a clear path across to the other side of the river. The heat was immense and the smoke so dense they wouldn't have been able to see if it weren't for the lava's steady glow.

"I'll go first," Lara said.

"Yeah and what if you fall in?" Sam asked.

"I'm more balanced than most people are."

"Oh, right. If you were so balanced why is it I had to save you from falling off a cliff in the Forest Temple?"

"That doesn't apply," Lara turned to him and found him smirking at her. "And you know it doesn't."

"Maybe."

"Right, then who goes first?"

"Well Sage already went first so I guess you can go ahead."

"What?" Lara turned again and found Sage stood on the opposite bank of the fire river. "I hate it that I gave her elf agility."

* * *

It was close to an hour before they had passed the cavern with the lava river. They continued through the boiling caves, wondering if the Fire Bird had seen them or not.

"It's just getting hotter and hotter," Sage said. "We should go back."

"No, this is the only way through," Lara protested.

"Maybe we should though," Sam began.

"You're taking her side?!"

"Yes, but that's because I didn't realize the physical stress we'd have coming in here. Sun's already passed out, you're just barely standing and the rest of us aren't going to be far behind you."

"But it's just a few more yards."

"Fine, we'll go a bit farther. But as soon as you pass out we're all going back, got it?"

"Mhmm."

They continued to follow Lara for a short time. She'd been right, they were almost out. There was an opening at the end of the corridor where sunlight poured in. A light breeze rushed in as well, cooling the cavern for a few minutes.

They emerged onto a bare, flat land. Not far away was the forest, set in the valley between two mountains.

* * *

**Kinda a short chapter. Sorry about that. Been busy and had other stuff to do than writing. Anyhow, working on it, so next chapter should be up sometime next week if i have the time to write it.**


	9. Poison Forest

Clashes of swords could be heard from just a short distance away. Lavitz and Sage took the lead and rushed forward to the fortress. They stopped dead at the sight before them.

Dead bodies lay strewn across the small clearing. Small fights were taking place amongst the defending and attacking sides. Lavitz withdrew his spear and rushed forward. Sage dashed into battle, bringing out her sword.

The battle raged on but soon was over. The enemy realized they were powerless against their prey. The brown-clad soldiers fled from the bloody battle field, leaving behind any of their wounded friends and partners to die.

Lavitz rushed into the fortress. Several more of the enemy soldiers ran out but were immediately killed by Sage. Sam looked around. All of the Bale soldiers were dead or near death and nothing could be done for them.

The fortress was in ruin. A few of the walls had been smashed down, corpses lied all over the bloody swamp land. Lavitz stumbled out of the ruins with a look of sadness on his face.

"Did anyone survive?" Sage asked.

"No," the green-clad knight replied. "I found one, but he died after telling me where the dragon had come from."

"Deeper in the forest," Sam replied.

"Yes."

"We can't go back for supplies, let's kill this thing fast," Luke said.

They went deeper into the forest. They soon came to the end of the woods, a clearing stretched out ahead into a small desert. Just a few miles away from the forest was the city of Lohan.

"I thought there was supposed to be a cavern or something," Lara asked in confusion.

"There is..." Sam sighed. There was a sudden crack. He looked down and groaned. They had stopped right on top of the pit trap that led to the dragon. The layer of sticks and roots gave way.

* * *

The sound of trickling water wake Sam up. He blinked his eyes open to find he was staring up towards a hole in the ceiling, where they'd falling in from. He pushed himself up and looked around.

The others were picking themselves up from the purple colored ground.

"Everyone okay?" Luke asked.

"I think so," Sam replied. He stood up. "How long do you think we've been out?"

"Not more than an hour," Sage said. "Err...Lara?"

"Hmm?" Sam turned to Lara. She looked a bit sick. "You okay?!" He walked up to her and placed a hand on her forehead. "You're not starting to get sick are you?"

"No, I'm fine," Lara laughed. She grabbed Sam's hand and pulled it away. "Just landed the wrong way, that's all."

"Oh. Well if you start to feel sick, tell me."

"I will, but I have no intentions of getting sick."

"Where to now?" Lavitz asked.

"That way," Sam replied. He pointed towards an eerie cave just west of them. "That's the home of the Wind Dragon."

The group walked forward into the cave. The walls were grimy and wet with poisoned water. The ground beneath their feet crunched with an endless series of snaps and pops.

They entered into a large chamber. Strands of poisoned foliage hung from the ceiling and the walls, purple water dripping on the ground.

"There's nothing here," Sun said. "Are you two sure this is the right place?"

"Positive," Sam and Lara replied at the same time.

"Then were is the dragon?" Luke asked.

"Should have been here, along with a former Bale Knight," Lara said. "Sir Gerham--"

"Gerham?!" Lavitz exclaimed. "Sir Gerham died several years ago, in the same battle that killed my father!"

"What?" Sam asked. "But that's not what was supposed to happen! He betrayed your father and escaped from Bale, stole the Jade Dragoon Spirit and controlled the green dragon!"

"But if Gerham is dead..." Sage began. "Then who has been controlling the dragon?"

"No one," Lara said. Sam looked at her with a stare of confusion. "Think about it, how many people were able to control of the Jade Dragon?"

"Three, but one of them is dead," Sam replied.

"And one of them is still in Bale."

"And the other is here. There's no one left..."

"Exactly. The dragon has been using it's own free will!"

"Why would it want to attack humans?" Lavitz asked. "We haven't done anything to it!"

"Some of the dragons are hostile, some of them are more gentle. The Jade Dragon is one of the hostile I'm afraid..."

"Is there any way to stop it?" Sage asked.

"We fight it," Sam said. "Kill it before it can do anymore damage."

* * *

There was a sudden roar behind them. The group turned around to find the only escape blocked by a massive figure. It was green and took more of a shape as a Preying Mantis rather than a scaly reptile. It was the Jade Dragon.

"Crap--!" Sage exclaimed. She'd been the closest to the cave and the dragon lashed out with a powerful claw. It threw her across the room and slammed her against the cave wall.

"Sage!" Lavitz yelled. He withdrew his spear and rushed forward. Almost immediately the dragon smashed him with it's other claw and knocked him across the room.

"You've got to use the Dragoon Spirits!" Lara exclaimed.

"But how?" Sam asked. "If this was still the game I'd do it without question; but now..."

"If you don't figure out how to do it we're going to—Hey!"

Sam looked up in time to see Lara rush forward pull Sage out of range of the dragon. Sam held up the brown-yellow stone and stared at it for a long moment. How would the transformation have been put in motion? A spell? Maybe a cry of desperation? Whatever it was, he didn't know.

Sun was guarding Sage and Lavitz while Lara attempted to attack the dragon.

"Summoning call..." Sam suddenly said. He was stunned at first he'd said anything, but something in the back of his mind came to him. He held his arm straight out, the Dragoon Spirit resting in the palm of his hand. "I call on the power of the earth to give me strength! Come forth, Gold Dragoon of Earth!"

Wisps of flowing magic rushed out of the marble and rushed up his arm. In a matter of seconds, the magic had completely surrounded him. For a second, he thought he was engulfed inside a mass of rock. Then the stone shattered and released him.

He quickly looked over himself. He now wore a brown-yellow suit of armor. He had a headband the same color as his suit wrapped around his head. On his back were two dragon-like wings that glowed green with the flowing magic. In his hand was a beautifully crafted ax. It was nearly three feet tall, weighing at roughly fifty pounds, had a copper handle, silver blade and green crystals embedded into the handle.

* * *

Sam was lightly lifted off the ground by his power wings. He'd have to get used to controlling the wings, but he mostly knew how to control them. He leaned forward slightly and flew at the dragon.

He slashed at the green scaly creature with his weapon. It roared and crumpled to the ground. Sam turned and faced the creature, ready to attack again.

"Please!" a voice screeched. Sam stopped it. The voice was identical to the Gold dragon. "Stop, I've done nothing! I'm just defending my territory!"

"But didn't you attack the fortress farther in the forest?" Sam asked.

"No, I did not."

"Who did?"

"A different dragon. One that I had never seen before. It's black, red and green with blood red eyes. Such a hideous creature. When I saw it, I felt deathly cold, no pulse, no breath."

"How did the guards mistake that dragon for you?"

"It is a shape shifter. It can look like anything at any time."

"Sam?" Lara asked. Sam looked at her. She was standing next to him looking concerned.

"Yeah?" Sam replied.

"Are you okay?"

"Course I am, why?"

"You're talking to yourself..."

"Wha...No I'm not, I'm talking with the--" Sam turned back to the dragon. It was dead. "--dragon..."

"You've been standing here talking to yourself for five minutes."

"Bu...But it was alive just a minute ago!"

"You killed it."

"What?"

"You hit it one time and it died."

'Dying words?' Sam thought to himself.

"Lavitz, Sage, you too all right?"

"We're fine," Sage replied.

"What's that?" Lavitz asked. He picked up something from the ground. A green stone.

"The Jade Dragoon Spirit!" Lara exclaimed.

"Oh..." Sam suddenly said. Lara turned to him again. Sam picked her up off the ground.

"What the heck are you doing?"

"Did you forget what happens next?"

"No, but I'm not going to be poisoned!"

"How do you know?"

"Sun! Sun what's wrong?!" Luke yelled.

Sun was leaning on Luke's shoulder as she gasped for air. Her skin was pale, tears filled her eyes her entire body was shaking.

"Told you," Lara snorted.

"Fine, fine," Sam sighed.

* * *

**Ferrion: Oh gosh, I'm sorry for the long long wait on the chapter!! I've been really busy and didn't get around to writing that much...**


	10. Ghost and Dragon of the White Ruins

"Come on, Sun," Luke sighed. "Wake up!"

"She can't wake up..." Sam said. "The poison that the dragon created isn't a physical poison, it's a mental poison."

"It's destroying her brain?!"

"Yea-"

"Is there a cure for it?" Luke stood up from where he'd been sitting on the ground. Lara was checking Sun for any wounds or fever.

"Of course but-"

"But what? It was supposed to be Lara who was poisoned instead of Sun?"

"Well-"

"Did Shana get cured from the poison?"

"Yeah, but Sun didn't take Shana's place-"

"Are you saying she's gonna die?"

"Would you two shut up?!" Lara exclaimed. The two fell silent and looked at her. "Thank you. Luke, carry Sun. We're going to Lohan."

"Lohan?" Luke asked.

"The city just beyond the forest, a little ways into the desert," Sam replied. "The best doctor in the land is there. He'll tell us what we need to find."

"The cure you mean?"

"Yeah."

It was almost an hour before the group rushed into Lohan. Sun was deathly pale by this time. Sam led the way through the streets to the small hospital.

After a short time, the doctor sighed and turned away from Sun's bed. This doctor was like most of the doctors in the game. White or teal clothing with white hair and scraggly beard.

"The poison has put her in a coma," he said.

"Where can we find the cure?" Luke asked.

"There isn't a cure..."

"What? You lied!" Luke whirled around and punched Sam square in the jaw. Sam fell on the hardwood floor, too shocked to defend himself. "How could you lie about my wife?!"

"Luke get a hold of yourself!" Sage exclaimed. She and Lavitz held Luke's arms to keep him from strangling Sam. "This isn't going to help!"

"You okay?" Lara asked. She knelt beside Sam and looked at the newly forming bruise.

"I think so," Sam mumbled. "I don't think it's broken, just hurts."

"Now, what the hell was that for?!" Lara snarled, turning to Luke. "He said there was a cure, but it's not physical!"

"Huh?" Luke began. He relaxed with the new information. "What do you mean not physical?"

"I mean there's no potion or plant for it. The cure is the healer Dragoon Spirit. My Dragoon Spirit."

"Oh...Sorry."

"No problem," Sam coughed. "But if you do that again I'm hitting back."

"Now, we have to go back into the forest," Lara said. "We should-"

"I'm staying here," Luke said.

"What?"

"I'm not leaving her."

"I'm staying too," Sage replied. "I took one too many blows to the head on the way here."

"So it's just three of us?" Lavitz asked.

"Unless Lara is staying," Sam said.

"No, I have to go," Lara replied. "The Silver dragon might only reply to it's Dragoon."

* * *

It was near late morning when Sam, Lara and Lavitz arrived at the ruins. The white-washed stones glowed in the sun light and the leaves on the overgrown trees and bushes glistened with drying dew. Three stories above them at the top of the ruins was where they needed to go.

They walked forward into the ruins. The corridors and hallways seemed endless.

"You sure this is the right way?" Lara asked.

"Pretty sure..." Sam replied. "But keep in mind it's been a few years since I last played the game."

"Would splitting up make searching go faster?" Lavitz asked.

"And what if one of us gets trapped or knocked out?"

"Fine then we won't split up."

"Guys! Come here!" Lara called from farther up the hallway. She'd gone on when the other two were talking. "I found the staircase!"

The two ran up to where Lara was. They stood at the foot of a long stone staircase. They were the same white-washed stone has most of the ruins.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Lavitz asked.

"Lara, want to show him?" Sam laughed.

"If I have to," Lara sighed. She took a step up. "You better catch me."

"Don't worry."

Lara walked up the stairs, two at a time. About half way up there was a sudden rumbling sound and the staircase fell in on itself creating a slide. Lara flipped over in time to keep from smashing her face into the stone as she fell back down.

"And that is why we waited," Sam said. He caught Lara before she reached the bottom.

"So then what do we do?" Lavitz asked.

"We turn the statues to lock the stairs as stairs." Sam nodded to the two dragon statues that stood on either side of the stairs.

"Lucky I know what way to turn the statues," Lara laughed. "The one on the right turns once clock-wise. The other turns twice clock-wise"

Sam set Lara on the ground, then he and Lavitz turned the statues as Lara had told them. There was a loud crash, then silence.

"Okay, let's go," Lavitz said.

They climbed the stairs and reached the top without any problems. They came out into a large clearing. The stone floor formed a large circle to fit with the rest of the ruins. Beyond the clearing was a small shrine.

"You!" a voice exclaimed. "You must leave here!"

A figure walked out from the shadows of the shrine. It was a man, a bit shorter than Lara, dressed in strange clothes.

"Drake," Sam said. "We need to speak with Shirley, will you let us?"

"How do you know my mistress's name?" the man asked.

"I have met her before."

"Why should I believe you—you scum?"

"Drake, control your tongue," a young female voice said. A figure appeared before them, a young woman. She had flame-red hair, pale skin and wear white robes. She floated almost six inches off the ground.

"Shirley," Sam said. "We've come in search of the White-Silver Dragoon Spirit."

"Ahh. I knew that some day another would come to claim their power. But I am afraid that I do not have it any longer."

Lavitz and Sam stared at the ghost in dismay.

"You don't have it!?" Lara exclaimed. "How can you not have it?"

"The White-Silver dragon came and asked for me to give the Spirit to it."

"And you just did it without question?"

"I can call the dragon, you know."

"Our friend is dying, if we can't get the Dragoon Spirit soon she's going to die!"

"Very well." The ghost looked up into the sky for a few moments, then looked back at Lara. "It is coming."

"Already?"

"Dragons fly quite fast. You should know that more than anyone. You read enough dragon fantasies to know the skeletal structure of one."

"Huh?" Sam asked. "You read dragon fantasies?"

"You totally just looked in my memories didn't you?" Lara asked the ghost.

"Yes."

"Figures."

* * *

There was a sudden gust of wind and a shadow fell across the platform. Lara looked up to see the massive white dragon just before it landed to the left of the shrine.

It was a beautiful creature. It's scales were white as snow, it's eyes were cerulean and it had almost a collar of crystallized-clover around it's neck.

Shirley turned to the dragon for a moment, she must have been speaking to it through telepathic means. She nodded then turned to Lara.

"He will give you the Dragoon Spirit," she said. "Please come over here."

Lara looked at Sam. "It's okay," he said. "We're right here to back you up if we end up having a battle."

Lara sighed, then turned and walked to stand next to Shirley and the dragon. The ghost took Lara's hand and held it against the dragon's rough skin. At once a rush of power exploded inside her. An undying light.

The dragon told her many different things. Healing spells and attack spells from the light class. Anything she would need to know as the White-Silver Dragoon.

The dragon turned away, stretched it's wings and flew off towards the western mountains. Lara found a white stone in her hand. The White-Silver Dragoon Spirit.

"It is done," Shirley said. "You are now the new healer Dragoon. Now I can sleep in peace. Farewell."

Shirley vanished and Drake ran into the shrine. For a moment Lara was rushing over each thing she'd just been told of healing. One of them stuck out though. The spell of bringing people back to life.

Lara suddenly remembered something that was going to happen soon in the game that involved someone's death. She was shocked at first, but quickly shook it off and turned to the other two.

"Let's go," she said.

* * *

It was near nightfall when they arrived back in the hospital in Lohan. They found Sage standing in the doorway of the room. Luke sat on a stool, holding Sun's with one hand and holding his head in the other.

"He's been like that for a while," Sage said. "The doctor said Sun has fallen too deep for the cure to work."

"I'm not going to give up without trying," Lara said. She walked forward and stood next to Luke. "Luke, you should probably step away."

Luke glanced up at her for a moment. He nodded, lied Sun's hand on the bed and moved away. Lara placed her left hand on Sun's forehead and let the magic flow through. For a moment, nothing happened. There was a sudden flash of light and an explosion.

Lara was thrown across the room and hit the floor with a crash.

"Lara!" Sam exclaimed. He knelt beside her and helped her sit up. "You okay? What happened?"

"No clue," Lara gasped. She could feel a sudden drain of energy coming over her. "I doubt that was supposed to happen."

"Huh?" Luke said. He was looking at Sun. A new look came to his eyes. "Sun?"

They all turned to find Sun was awake. She sat up and looked around.

"What happened?" she asked. "Weren't we just in the forest a minute ago?"

"Sun!" Luke sighed. He ran to her and held her in a tight hug. "You're okay!"

"Guess it worked after all," Lara laughed.

"What worked?" Sun asked. "What the heck is going on?"

"You've been in a coma," Luke said. "Sam, Lavitz and Lara went to find the White-Silver Dragoon Spirit to heal you."

"I was poisoned?" Luke nodded. "Thank you, Lara."

"Don't mention it," Lara sighed.

"What is all the fuss?" the doctor asked. He came into the room and gasped in amazement. "She's awake! How did you do it?"

"Magic," Sage laughed.

"Well, she should stay here for a bit longer before she gets on her feet. Why don't you all go downstairs and get some rooms in the inn? Tell the owner I'll pay him for the rooms tomorrow."


	11. Troubled Tournament

Sam blinked his eyes up and found himself looking over at the second bed in the small room. Lara was still sleeping, though she looked more like she was in a coma. Sam sat up, stood and checked Lara for a pulse and warmth in her skin.

"What the heck happened before?" he asked himself out loud. "That never happened in the game..."

_'Maybe it was back fire from the spell?' _Another voice in his head said.

_'Sage, what're you doing in my head?'_ Sam asked.

_'Old habit, sorry. But I think it was back fire from the spell. Do you know what she used?'_

_'No. As soon as we got into the room she lied down and fell asleep right away.'_

_'If we knew what the spell was she used I could probably keep it from happening again.'_

_'Just cause you're half elf-'_

_'-And Lara's creation-'_

_'-doesn't mean you know everything.'_

_'Well some of us want to think we know everything. Anyway, get her up, there's some kind of tournament being held.'_

Silence filled Sam's mind. He sighed then lightly shook Lara's shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"What?" she asked.

"You've been sleeping for a while. And the fair has opened."

"Oh." She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Now then," he bowed slightly and held his hand out as if he were a noble prince. "Would you accompany me, m'lady?"

* * *

They walked through the city and to the inner-most building. This was where the fair was being held, as well as a tournament. Sam wanted to enter the tournament, and he knew that Luke would probably enter it as well.

Just ahead of them Sam saw the others were standing next to the sign-up desk for the tournament. He and Lara ran over to join them.

"So who wants to enter the tournament?" Lavitz asked.

"I want to," Luke said.

"So do I," Sam laughed.

"I'd enter too but I don't think any of the men here would like being beaten by a woman," Lara said. Sam notice a slight twitch in her voice. He glanced at her and noticed a look a worry in her eyes. He wasn't sure what it meant, but something wasn't right.

"I'll get us signed up then," Luke laughed.

As he went to the desk and the three girls began to talk, Sam turned to Lavitz.

"Somethings wrong," he said.

"You had the same feeling then?" Lavitz asked.

"Listen, while Luke and I are in the tournament, you gotta watch them." He motioned to the girls. "Especially Lara."

"I take it Seth has some score to settle with her?"

"Not sure if it's a score to settle or if it's just pure hatred of his creator. Just don't let her out of your sight, okay?"

"You got it. I'll watch her as if she were the daughter of the king."

* * *

A short time later the tournament began. Sam was picked to go against a ranger in the first battle of the competition. It was a quick battle, the ranger was hit just once and surrendered.

Next Luke fought with a stronger foe, a swordsman. This battle lasted for a time, but Luke's small body build and quick stepping helped him win. Two battles went on before the next round.

Sam now fought against a heavy built man. For a moment he thought this rival was a Giganto. He shook his head and told himself he'd taken the part of the only Giganto that remained in this world.

The battle was once again short, though Sam took a blow to the head before the other man was disqualified for cheating and was arrested. Sam sat in the lobby for the tournament and waited for Luke to come back in.

He knew Luke wouldn't win. His fight had been against Llyod. He was a silver haired man with amber eyes. He played an important role in the game, but for now he was just an annoyance. Luke staggered in and fell to the ground.

"Luke!" Sam exclaimed. He helped the fallen teen up and onto the couch. "You okay? What happened?"

"That guy," Luke coughed. "He's fighting for real. He was going to kill me."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"And now, for the final match of the tournament, Llyod the silver swordsman versus Sam the giant!" a voice from outside came. "Which will claim the crown of strongest man in the land? We'll find out right now!"

"I'll be right back, don't go anywhere," Sam said.

"Watch out for his sword, it burns like fire," Luke replied.

Sam walked out into the clearing. Llyod stood opposite him, holding his weapon in battle stance. Sam sighed, then brought out his ax and held it tightly in his grasp.

A gong was struck, the two rushed at each other and began to slash at each other. Just within the first few moments, both jumped back from each other and leaned against their weapons. Both were sweating and gasping for air. Llyod might have been faster, but Sam had the advantage of knowledge and wits.

There was a crash. The audience was running around in a mix panic and screams. From where they were, neither Llyod nor Sam could see what was going on. Something jumped down to the fighting ring. Sam recognized it at once. A Twilight Messenger.

That must have been what she'd felt before. The Twilight was coming and she'd known it. But why hadn't she told anyone else?

Llyod killed the Twilight creature with a single hit. He turned to Sam and nodded to the entrance. They both ran out to where the crowd was running for the exit.

"Sam!" Sage called. She ran up with Sun from the rushing crowd. "We can't find Lavitz or Lara anywhere!"

"What?"

"They said they were going to go check on something and just left," Sun explained. "They've only been gone for a short time, but the Twilight creatures might be looking for all of us."

"No, it's not all of us Seth is after. He's only after Lara."

"But why?"

"I don't know. Get down to the lobby, Luke was hurt pretty badly in the last fight."

"What about you?" Sage asked.

"I'm gonna find the other two--"

"Alone?"

"You have a better idea?"

"No, but--"

"Listen, I don't know you very well. I don't know Sun, Luke or Lavitz very well. But I know Lara, and I'm not about to leave her wondering alone."

"You care for her like family."

"She's my best friend, wouldn't you do the same?"

"I did once...Or rather, I would have done if I had the chance."

"Maybe you will."

* * *

Sam turned and ran out of the stadium, leaving Sage to gaze after him. He rushed through the crowds as they ran in all directions, seeking shelter in houses or leaving town all together.

A Twilight Messenger suddenly fell from one of the roofs and died at once. Sam stopped dead in his tracks and looked up. Lavitz and Lara were jumping roof to roof fighting off the Twilight creatures.

Lara was wearing her original outfit when she and Sam and first been kidnapped and taken to Hyrule. Either she'd gotten new clothes, or her powers were strong enough to change her clothes colors.

"Sam, look out!"

A sudden wave of heat flew past Sam. He whirled around to see a Twilight Messenger burning to ash. He looked up to see Luke standing—or rather, floating—a few yards away.

"Where are the other two?" Luke asked.

"Up there," Sam said. He pointed to the rooftops.

"Lavitz!"

"Wha-?"

Lavitz suddenly crashed to the ground with a thud and a snap. The two ran to him and help him up.

"What happened?" Luke asked.

"That woman-!" Lavitz exclaimed. "The one from Hellena!"

Sam looked back to the roofs. Lara was dodging magic attacks from the woman in black. He stood and transformed to his Dragoon form.

"I'm going up there," he said. Without waiting for the other two to say anything or start to argue, Sam took off from the ground and reached the two on the roof in just a few seconds.

"Sam, what're you doing?!" Lara gasped.

"Helping you!" Sam replied. He landed on the roof, created a rock from thin air and threw it at the woman. The small boulder shattered before it hit her. "What?"

"I've tried magic, nothing works!"

"Just give up!" the woman sighed. "Emperor Seth is willing to make a deal with you."

"Whatever it is, I'm not interested. Can't trust that scum bag."

"Oh?"

Sam felt his hearing aid explode and heard just for a second Lara cry out. He fell on the roof and lost his grip on the Dragoon Spirit. He was himself again, but a wave of fear swept over him before he passed out. His hearing aid had shattered to pieces.

* * *

**Big update! Yeah, been working on this forever. Sorry it's a bit late. And no, Luke and Sun haven't been forgotten, but I don't feel I can properly describe how they act since they are married. Anyhow, gonna edit stories for a while. There won't be any updates on this for a bit.  
**


	12. Shapeshifting Spirit

Sam jolted awake. He looked around. Lara was leaning over him, she looked like she'd been crying. Lavitz was a little farther off helping Luke to stand. Lara said something then backed off a bit to let Sam sit up.

He sat up and looked over himself. His shoulder guards had been removed and the top half of his tunic untied. He thought for a moment, then looked at Lara and began to sign to her.

"_What happened?"_ he asked.

"_Your hearing aid exploded and sent a shock through your body," _Lara explained. _"Luke and Lavitz got up here and took care of the girl, but when we got back to you, we thought you'd been killed."_

"_Sorry."_

"_It's okay. You're fine, that's all that matters."_

"_How badly damaged is the hearing aid?"_

Lara pulled a box from her bag and handed to Sam. He opened it and found ten shattered pieces of his hearing aid. He sighed, closed the box and gave it back to her.

"_So what now?"_ he asked.

"_We gotta get it fixed."_

"_You mean you can't do it?"_

"_I can fix a lot of things but hearing aids isn't one of them."_

"_Well, lets find someone who can fix it then."_

It was almost dusk by the time Sam and Lara got back to the inn. They'd searched the whole city and hadn't found anyone who could fix the hearing aid.

"Excuse me," a voice said. "You two look like you could use some help."

Lara turned to find herself facing a middle aged man. He had black hair, like most of the people in Lohan did, but his eyes were green.

"Maybe," Lara began. She grabbed Sam's arm to get his attention. "Depends on what you're offering."

"I am an engineer. From what I hear, you're looking for someone to fix a small piece of machinery?"

"Yes." Lara withdrew the box and gave it to the man.

"Hmm...Fine piece of work here. I believe I can fix it."

"All right, what's the price?"

"Not a price, but an item. There is a sap I use to mix these sorts of things but I've run out of it. I need you to get me the herb for it."

"Which is?"

"Indiana leaves."

"And where do we find them?"

"An evil spirit in the forest south of here, near the ocean has the herb. But it is a powerful spirit, it'll poison ya, then when you're too weak to fight it'll suck your very soul out and eat it!"

Lara signed all of this to Sam. He stared at her for a minute, then gave her the okay to ask more.

"Is there anything to stop the poison?" she asked.

"A potion."

"And you have it?"

"Indeed."

"How much?"

"It's free. The Indiana leaf is far more valuable than the potion and this machine combined!"

"Then we'll set out first thing in the morning to get the leaves."

The man gave Lara the box back and also gave her a bottle with green liquid inside.

"For each person you take, you'll only need a small sip of this to be protected from the curse."

"Thank you." She motioned to the stairs and Sam led the way up to their room.

* * *

The next morning the group set out towards the south. The swampland woods came into view as the sun reached the mountain peaks. They trudged through the thick bog, keeping close together and holding their lanterns high enough to light the path.

They came onto dry land. It was a small island in the middle of the swamp. Lara withdrew the potion from her bag, took a sip then passed it around the others. Once they'd each had some of he potion Lara put it back into her bag.

"_Do we just wait?" _Sam signed.

"_I'm not sure," _Lara replied. _"Maybe we-Look out!"_

Sam whirled around and froze on the spot. A tree stood in front of them, it was nearly twenty feet tall. It was almost human like—a human trapped within a tree. The branches were it's arms, roots were feet, leaves were hair. An Ent.

Sam withdrew his ax and rushed forward. He grabbed hold of the Ent's foot and began to hack at the bark. The Ent roared in fury and grabbed Sam in one leafy hand. It began to squeeze Sam, slowly cutting off his oxygen.

Three flaming arrows smashed into the bark and lit the Ent on fire. The Ent wailed in pain and dropped Sam. The woody creature jumped into the water, vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"_Did we kill it?"_ Sam asked.

"_I dunno, that seemed too easy," _Lara signed back. She turned slighted and yelled something. Sam looked in that direction as well and saw Sun get dragged under the water. Luke dived in after her and the creature.

Nothing moved, no one dared to breath. Luke suddenly scrambled out of the water, Sun right behind him and the spirit as well. A blast of green light shot through the spirit and struck a near by tree. The spirit hissed and transformed into a tiger.

_'A shape shifter?!' _Sam thought to himself. _'Wait, then could this be the Twilight Dragon?'_

Sam suddenly began to glow white. He looked at himself then at the others, they were all glowing. Lara had her hands out stretched, sending her magic to others creating spell that was not only a healing spell, but a shield as well. She looked at him and nodded. He nodded back, then turned back to the spirit.

The light had confused it for the moment. Sam leaped forward and sliced the spirit clean in half with his ax. He landed in the shallow waters and whirled around to see what'd happen next.

Sage and Lavitz had also taken hits on the spirit while the shields held. Luke dragged Sun onto the ground and made sure she hadn't drowned. The spirit seemed to be wailing in sorrow; Sam could still hear that at least.

He ran to it and delivered the killing blow. The ghost exploded in a wave of dust and water. Something fell to the ground. A clump of red-brown leaves. The Indiana herb.

He picked it up and found it was starting to wilt. He dipped the plant into the water and it restored the bit of life it'd just lost. But when he took it out it started wilting again.

He put it back in and held it there this time. Clearly this plant was too weak to leave a water source for more than a few seconds. The water splashed suddenly, getting his sleeve wet.

He looked up and stared in amazement. The Water Dragon was there. It was a beautiful creature, light blue scales, bright red eyes and large ears, like it's wings would have been if it had been given wings.

This dragon doesn't fly, but swims. There must've been a large hole in the bottom of the swamp water that it came through. It looked at the group, then turned to Sun.

Sun spoke to it, but Sam didn't know what she'd said. The dragon nodded, leaned forward and placed something small in Sun's hand. It was the Dragoon Spirit of Water.

The dragon nodded to the group, then sank back into the water, disappearing into the darkness. Sun stood up and walked to Sam. She motioned to the hand that held the plant in the water. He held up the plant and let her take it.

Sun waved a hand over it and the plant stopped wilting. Lara asked something, Sun replied, then put the plant into her bag. Lara stepped in front of Sam and held out her hand to help him up.

* * *

"We've got to help him!" Lavitz exclaimed.

"But--" Sage began.

The group hid in the shadows of the forest, looking on to Hellena. It wasn't far from them. Where they stood, they saw King Albert and several of his guards being taken within the prison gates. Lavitz was protesting that we had to go in and save the king right at that moment.

"He's my King! I should've been guarding him, but now look what's happened..."

"We can't go in now. What about Sam?" Lara asked. "He can't hear, he can't talk. What good--"

Sam had been standing next to her and clearly understand what she'd said. He rustled her hair slightly and leaned over to look at her.

"_We need to get in there,"_ he signed.

"_You sure you'll be okay?"_ Lara signed back.

"_No guarantee, but I know you won't let me out of your sight for more than a second. It'll be fine."_

"I've been out ruled," she laughed out loud. "Sam says it'll be fine."

"Then lets go!" Lavitz said.


	13. Second Visit to Hellena Prison

Lavitz leaped into the air and just barely grabbed hold of the raising bridge. He clung to it for a few short seconds, then hoisted himself over and into the prison.

Swords clashed beyond the gap in the road, then silence. The bridge was lowered again and the Lavitz stood on the other side, kicking two limp guards out of the way.

"Come on!" he shouted.

They ran through the prison, killing any guards that came near. First floor was clear as was the second. On the third floor there was a heavily armored guard. In his hands he held a halberd, it's blade was razor sharp.

"What now?" Luke asked. "He could run us through if we get too close."

_'I got an idea,'_ Sam signed. _'Lara get ready for your chance.'_

Sam got down on his hands and knees and half crawled, half limped into the view of the guard. He moaned and held his stomach. Lara wasn't sure if he was faking or not, but if he was it was a good act.

The guard walked over to him and knelt down to pull him up and off to a cell. Lara leaped forward and punched the guard in the face with one fist. The man flipped over and was unconscious from the blow.

Sam stood up and chuckled. _'Now I know not to get on your bad side.'_

_'Yeah, but gosh that really hurt!'_

Sam walked over to the man and pulled something from his hand. He held up a silver key and smirked.

_'Key to the third floor.'_

They continued up the tower until they finally came to the last door. It was standing wide open. They rushed inside to find themselves facing the girl in black.

"I'm afraid you're a bit late," she laughed. She vanished an a flash of light. Lloyd was standing over King Albert, a bloody knife in one hand and a blue crystal orb in the other.

"No!" Lavitz yelled. He ran past Lara, harpoon in hand.

"Lavitz wait!" Lara exclaimed.

Lavitz transformed to Dragoon, leaped into the air and shot down to stab the silver haired swordsman in the chest. Lloyd withdrew a white blade, red hilted sword from his belt. He slashed the weapon in the air, piercing Lavitz's green scaly armor. A clean spray of blood flew in the air and splattered over the floor. Lavitz fell limp to the ground and reverted to normal.

"No!" Sage cried. She rushed forward and swung her sword at Lloyd.

The silver haired warrior leaped backwards, turned and jumped out the window to safety.

"Lara you knew this was gonna happen, didn't you?" Sun asked.

"We both knew..." Lara sighed.

"Lavitz!" Sage exclaimed. She ran to him, knelt down and lifted him up off the ground. It was too late, he was already gone. "No! Lara-!"

"I can't do anything," Lara said. "Not here anyway."

"Not here?!"

"We have to go to the white ruins." Sage fell silent.

"Sage," Albert began. His shoulder had a blood gash and an empty hole where the pearl once rested in his body. "If she can save him, let her."

"...Okay," Sage sighed. "But you know what'll happen if you fail."

"I know," Lara replied. "I'm willing to risk it."

* * *

They set out again through the tower, across the field and into the swamp forest. Sage refused to let anyone else carry Lavitz. She might've been stick thin but her elf blood made her stronger than humans. She said he weighed about as much as a large dog.

It was nearly dawn by the time they reached the ruins. Sam led the way through the hallways. They soon came to the top of the ruins. Sage set Lavitz on the center of floor.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

"Everyone stand back," Lara replied. She was signing as well so Sam could understand. "At least five feet. Sun, I'll need your magic to help, you're the only other healer we have."

"Right," Sun replied. The others stepped back while Sun remained where she was. "What do we need to do?"

"We each take one of his hands, then we hold take each other's."

The two healers did so. Magic began to flow between the three. A link of their minds and souls.

"_What's going on?" _Lavitz's voice came. _"Why is everything dark?"_

"_Relax Lavitz, it's just me and Sun," _Lara replied.

"_There's not enough flow!" _Sun exclaimed. _"We'll end up killing his soul if we don't stop!"_

"_Lessen your flow, I'll take the most of it."_

"_Are you crazy? You don't even know what we're supposed to be doing!"_

"_Trust me!"_

Just a few short seconds passed before something began to feel very strange. It was almost like Lara's spirit was being drained out of her. She wondered if she'd pass out or die from this. A sudden shock rushed through her, the very energy from the blast forced Lara to loose grip of the other two and was sent crashing into the nearby pillar.

* * *

**It's an uber short chapter. Sorry! (**

**Anyway, this is the last update for the next three weeks. Going to camp in about checks clock two hours, then the day I get back from that going to beach for two weeks. I'll try to work on chapters if I can while I'm gone. Bye ya'll!**


	14. To Fletz, city of Stars

'What was that blast?' Sam thought to himself. 'It was strong enough to revive Lavitz, but it drained all of Lara's magic and spirit power.'

It'd been nearly an hour since Lavitz had come back. Lara was still unconscious. Sam sat near her and kept looking around the area to make sure nothing was coming to attack.

'I never saw that spell before. Did Lara create it herself?'

'She's not able to think up magic spells in this world,' Sage's voice echoed. 'If this was my world, she could. But this isn't the world she created.'

'So what you're saying is there's no way she could make spells here?'

'Yeah.'

'Then what was it?'

'I don't know. But she's waking up. Why don't you ask her?'

Sam looked at Lara. She was looking around in a confused daze.

_'Hey, you okay?' _Sam signed.

Lara nodded and pushed herself up. She looked towards Sage and Albert, who were helping Lavitz to get down some water. She sighed then looked back at Sam.

_'What happened?' _She signed.

_'You got shot back against a pillar and were knocked out for an hour.'_

_'Ahh, no wonder my head feels broken.'_

_'Where'd you learn that spell?'_

_'The White dragon taught it to me.'_

_'You're sure?'_

_'Yeah. Can you help me up?'_

_'Sure.'_

Sam helped Lara to her feet and let her lean on his shoulder until she thought she could stand on her own. Lara turned to the others and began to talk to them. Each responded then they all stood up.

_'We're heading back to Lohan,' _Lara explained.

_'Okay. Stay close in case something happens.'_

* * *

It was noon when they came into Lohan. They met with the engineer in a small shop.

"You have it?" he asked.

"Yeah," Lara replied. Sun handed over the herb and Lara quickly placed it into a glass of water. "It will wilt quickly without constant water."

"Very well. Please hand over the little machine."

Lara withdrew the box and handed it over.

"This will take a short time, go grab some food while i fix the machine."

"You guys go ahead," Lara said to the others. "Sam and I will stay here."

"You don't want anything?" Sage asked.

"Whatever you can find bring some back for us."

"Very well."

It was about thirty minutes later when they came back with bread, cheese, ham and some vegetables. While they ate the engineer laughed in triumph.

"What is it?" Lara asked.

"It's repaired!" he laughed. He handed Sam the newly fixed hearing aid.

He looked it over then put it back in his ear and flicked the switch to on. The crowds outside were suddenly audible. The light breeze whistled in greetings.

"Well?" Lara asked.

"It works!" Sam laughed. He hugged Lara and lifted her off the ground slightly.

"I take it you hate not being able to hear?"

"Nah, I hate being mute more than not hearing." He set Lara down again and grinned.

"So where do we go now?" Sage asked.

"We gotta go to the black city to the south."

"What's there?"

"Should be the Emperor's lair, but since he's dead Seth must control it."

"Wait, black city?" Albert asked.

"Yeah."

"The black city was destroyed almost five years ago."

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me..." Lara sighed as she lightly placed her hand to her forehead.

"A massive fire rushed through the city, killed everyone and destroyed all of the buildings."

"Then where did Seth go?"

"The next logical place would be to Tiberoa," Sam said.

"Then let's get going!" Albert exclaimed.

"Sire, you must stay here and take care of the people," Lavitz said.

"And where shall I rule from? Lohan?"

"It may be safer than going on this adventure."

"That doesn't matter to me. So long as I can do something to stop this war, I don't care."

"Very well."

They gathered up supplies for the journey to the next kingdom over the mountains to the west. Once they had everything they set off.

* * *

"We're here!" Sun sighed.

They walked into the city of Fletz. It was noon but the sky was dark with rain clouds. That was unusual in itself. It never rained in Tiberoa.

The city was white bricked with a stream flowing down from the castle. The Twin Castle. Two gleaming towers of pure white and deep blue cobblestone stood over the city, watching and protecting it.

One tower was the Moon Tower. The other, the Star Tower. Just below and beyond the towers was the Sun Chamber, where the ruling King stayed for most of his time.

As they walked along the stream and came to the trading plaza, they heard laughter and cheering. The group ran forward and stopped just at the stairs to the upper level of the plaza.

A young girl dressed in a elegant red silk dress stood in the middle of the trading area with several people gathering around her. Her eyes were deep brown, her hair shimmering gold and her figure was perfectly thin as a stick.

"Pfft," Lara snorted. "Never really liked Emille, but it's already gone wrong here too."

"You're right," Sam replied. "She should be Lenus in disguise, but it doesn't even look like it's her."

"Emille!" a new voice called. The younger princess of the castle, Lisa, came running down the stairs from the palace. She wore a dress of yellow silk and her dark gold hair was pulled into two ponytails. "Father needs you!"

"I'm coming!" Emille laughed. "Good bye!" She hurried after her younger sister to the castle.

"I don't get it. What's wrong with this?"

"There should've been fear in the crowd, not joy. Something's very wrong."

"So, what do we do now?" Luke asked.

There was a sudden scream from the palace.

"That's more like it!" Lara exclaimed. "Come on!"


	15. North to the Sea

The group rushed up the stairs, through the castle and into the Throne Room. The King was sprawled on the floor, blood dripping from his mouth. A blue-silver haired woman stood over the two frightened princesses, the Moon Dagger in her hand.

"Hey!" Albert snarled. The woman turned to them. "Hands off!"

"Ooh? And who might you be?" she asked.

"Albert, Kin-" Sage smacked her hand over his mouth to keep him from talking.

"We're the ones who're here to kill you!" Luke exclaimed.

"Kill me, huh?" Lenus laughed. "Not likely to happen, pretty boy."

"What'd you just call him?!" Sun snarled. Her hands were flexed out, nails growing long and sharp.

"Oh, did I hit a nerve? Come now, I'm just flirting."

"Well stop doing it."

"Why should I? It's not like he's taken or anything."

Sun leaped forward with such speed no one saw her between point A and point B. She slashed the blue haired woman across the face with her sharp claws, a spray of blood splattering the floor.

"AHH!" Lenus cried. She cupped her hands over her face, rushed to the open balcony and jumped over the railing.

"Sun!" Luke exclaimed. He ran to her and held her in a tight hug. "That was awesome!"

"I was just defending you," Sun laughed. "I hate people who are total flirts."

"Are you two alright?" Albert asked. He pushed Sage aside and knelt before the two princesses.

"We're fine, but..." Emille began. "But, Father..."

"I know."

"You seem familiar, who are you?" Lisa asked.

"King Albert."

"From beyond the eastern mountains?"

"Yes."

"What brings you here?" Emille asked.

"A mission to save the world. These are my companions, Sam, Lara, Luke, and Sun. Then my personal guards, Lady Sage and Sir Lavitz."

"You must get the Moon Dagger back! I order that you do so at once!"

"Of course. Guys, get moving!"

"You're leaving us, huh?" Sam asked.

"Adventure isn't my place. I should stay here with the Princesses and protect them if anything else happens to come."

"Alright. C'mon guys, we're heading north."

* * *

It was near night fall when they arrived in Donau. It was becoming cooler every night, winter was coming. The group got a large room in the inn and spent the night there.

Early the next morning, they ran down to the docks and met with the captain of the royal ship for Fletz family. They told him what had happened in the city and gave him the letter Emille had given them just before they left.

"Yes, we'll sail at once!" the captain exclaimed. He blew his whistle and the ship's crew came to life, preparing everything to set out. "You lot better get your supplies together, we don't know what could be out at sea."

"Come on, Sun," Luke said. "We'll go get new armor."

"Okay!" Sun laughed.

"We'll go get items and food," Sage said. She grabbed Lavitz by the arm and dragged him back into town. "We'll be back soon!"

"Hey! What do we do then?!" Lara called.

"Figure out what happens next!"

The two stood in silence for a short time. Neither one knew exactly what was going to happen next since everything was already wrong. But they knew what was _supposed_ to happen.

"Right," Sam finally said. "I guess we go ahead and get settled on the ship?"

"Might as well."

"Captain!"

"Yes sir?" the captain replied.

"Do you mind if we go ahead and get settled on the ship? The rest of our party seems to have abandoned us."

"Not at all sir, just stay below deck."

"Come on."

They climbed aboard and went below deck to the living chambers for the crew. There were a few large rooms with three-bed-bunks, a separate room for the captain and three rooms for guests. They walked into the first room and both flopped down onto a bed.

"This is turning into one of my family gatherings!" Lara groaned.

Sam chuckled at her comment. She'd hated most of her family events, mostly because half her family was over protective of her, and the other half were both protective and controlling. He guessed that was what happened when you're the youngest in a large family.

"So what now?" he asked.

"I dunno about you, but I'm hurting and I'd like to just rest for a bit."

"That doesn't sound like you." Sam sat up and stood over Lara. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, just a slight headache."

"Well, you rest for a while. I'll come back once we've set sail."

* * *

"Lara, come out and look at the sunset!" Sam called through the door.

"Sunset?" Lara called back. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!"

"Thought you should rest!"

"I'll be there in a minute!"

Sam went above deck and took in the sea air. It was like sand, though they were almost a day off from shore and still had another day and a half to the next city.

The sky was a deep crimson with streaks of violet, light pink and blue dancing in the fading sunlight. The sun was already hidden behind the snowy mountains.

"Wow!" Lara exclaimed.

"Mhmm," Sam laughed. He reached onto his pack and pulled out a bag. "Here, food and medical supplies."

"Thanks." Lara took the bag and put it in her pack.

"So how come you're in blue?"

"Got tired of white, went and got it dyed."

"Oh."

"No sign of the fog?"

"Not yet..."

"Let's hope it doesn't come then."

"We're gonna head for bed!" Luke called.

"Okay, night."

Luke and Sun climbed downstairs and disappeared in the dim lighting.

"So what now?" Lara asked.

"I'm not sure," Sam said. "We're not supposed to meet the ship until--"

"Fog dead ahead!" a voice from above called. The look-out man with the telescope had yelled to the rest of the ship.

Sam and Lara rushed to the railing of the ship and stared out into the sea. Directly ahead of them, out of no where was a sheet of dark fog.

"I think the ship wants to see us," Lara gulped.


	16. No Ghosts Here

"Can you see anything?" Lara asked.

"No, can hardly even see you in this fog," Sam replied.

"Well I can't see you at all!" Lara had gotten poor night vision between the first and second travels. It wasn't too surprising to Sam that Lara couldn't see in the fog.

"Here," Sam grabbed Lara's hand and placed it on his shoulder. "Keep a tight grip so you don't lose me."

"What's going on?" a new voice asked in the fog. Sam turned to see the dim outline of Luke.

"Fog came out of no where, there's a ghost ship in here somewhere and we're gonna ram right into it," Lara said.

"Oh, man," Sam began.

"What?"

"Get down on the deck and hold onto something!"

Luke dropped to the floor at once. Sam grabbed Lara and pulled her onto the hardwood floor. A sudden crash rocked the ship side to side then stop completely.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

"I think so," Lara coughed. "Luke?"

"I'm fine," Luke replied. "What was that?"

"That, was that," Sam began. He sat up and pointed to the front of the ship. Clinging to the front of their ship was a deathly, rotten ship. It was gray from the mold that'd been growing there for years. Strange howls came from the other deck.

"What the heck?" Sage asked. She, Lavitz and Sun came up on deck to see what'd happened. "What is that?"

"The Ghost Ship," Sam replied. "And we my friends, are going to investigate it!"

"Why?" Sun asked.

"Because I feel like it. And we're gonna be stuck like this until we get into the captain's cabin anyhow."

* * *

"I'm not so sure this was a good idea," Lara moaned.

"We'll be fine. The others will come if we don't come back after ten minutes," Sam replied.

None of the others had wanted to go exploring the ship, so Sam and Lara went alone. Though the others had said if there'd been no word in ten minutes they'd come looking.

"And what if they get unstuck and we get drifted?"

"I can fly, remember?"

"Well I can too, but-"

"No, you can't."

"Huh?"

"No one thinks it's a good idea for you to use your Dragoon magic for a while. Last time you used it you got knocked out. Won't do any good if it happens again."

"I guess you're right...But I think I should make the choice of whether to use it or not."

As they continued to walk along the deck, the rotting boards squeaked underfoot. The smell of the mold and dead corpses was almost unbearable. The only light source was the small lantern Sam had brought with them.

Lara glanced over her shoulder to find the path they'd come from was filled with thick fog again. She couldn't see any of the lights from the other ship. She turned again and nearly ran into Sam. He'd stopped for some reason.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Something isn't right," Sam replied. He pulled out his ax and gripped it tightly in one hand. "Stay close."

They silently walked around the corner of the building and stopped at the side of a door. It was the door leading into the inner cabin for the control room and guest room. Sam lightly tapped the door. A scowl came across his face as the door opened wide.

"Someone's already been here," he said. He handed Lara the lantern and took her free hand. "Stay right behind me."

They crashed through the door and stood in the dark room. The only light came from the lantern. There was no one in the room. The door suddenly shut on them and the lantern was blown out by unfelt wind. Lara set down the lantern and gripped Sam's hand with both of hers.

"So here you are at last," a voice in the darkness laughed.

"Who's that?" Sam growled. "Turn on a light so we can see you!"

"Why should I? You've no ruling in the dark magics."

"Like that'd matter."

"Oh but it does. See, I have control of the darkness. And since we're all in a room full of it..."

A thick rope-like cord wrapped itself around Sam's neck and tightened, starting to choke him. He struggled to free his neck but had no luck. His vision had adapted to the darkness now. He looked up and saw Seth standing in front of them. He was dressed in black armor with a glowing dark purple crystal in his left hand.

"See you in a few weeks," he laughed.

A purple smoke came out of nowhere and engulfed Sam and Lara. It had a sweet smell to it. Too sweet a smell. Sam started to get dizzy, not from the choking but the smoke.

"Sam," Lara coughed. "It's a sleeping gas..."

Sam saw Lara fall to the floor, it'd taken faster effect on her. The rope released him and he fell to his knees trying to keep from falling asleep. He closed his eyes and didn't even feel himself hit the ground.

* * *

"Where are they?" Sun asked.

"I dunno," Luke replied. "But their signals are coming from in here."

The rest of the group had gotten worried and rushed over to find the other two. Luke had a simple tracking device disguised as a small dagger. The beacons for them were coming from behind a steel door.

Luke and Lavitz slammed the door open and they all clambered inside. They stood in a dark room. There was no sign of the other two.

"You're sure they're in here?" Sage asked.

"Positive," Luke replied.

The door suddenly shut closed locking them inside. Purple smoke began to fill the room.


	17. Nightmare

_Tick tock, tick tock_

A mahogany Grandfather clock stood in an open space. The ground was blue and purple and almost like an island in the starry night sky. Sam knew all of the details of this realm before he even saw it.

He opened his eyes and looked around. This wasn't a normal place in the game, that was for sure.

"Weird..." he mumbled. As he looked around he found Lara was gone. "Oh, no. Lara!"

But there was no reply other than the ticking clock. Sam stumbled to his feet, balancing himself with outstretched arms. He walked to he edge of the platform he stood on. Endless darkness lay below with nothing to stop the fall.

"Okay, jumping off isn't an option," he said. He straightened and turned around. A path lead to a large platform. He walked along it and came to a brightly lit forest.

The trees were white with pink leaves. Sam shook his head and looked again. The trees hadn't changed.

"I must be drugged," he sighed.

"You're not," a voice said. "You're in an parallel world. Land of Dreams."

Sam turned to see a figure step out from behind a tree. He was the same height and build as Sam, but his hair was blond, eyes a lighter shade of green and skin a few tones darker. The complete opposite of Sam.

"Who're you?" Sam asked.

"Me? I'm you. Your mirror image."

"My 'mirror image' wouldn't be blond or have such dark skin."

"True. But then again, your mirror image knows some things you don't."

"Like what?"

"Like that pretty girl you were with."

"Where is she?"

"Nu huh, we fight, then if you win I answer your questions."

"What if I lose?"

"Then you die."

"That doesn't seem fair."

"Take it or leave it."

"Fine." Sam withdrew his ax. "Let's get started."

* * *

"Hello?" Sun called. "Where am I?"

She stood in a dark forest. The trees around were black with blood red leaves. Darkness covered the entire place, the only light from floating lanterns. The ground beneath her feet was blackened from a fire.

A crash of thunder rang out through the trees. Sun gasped and put her hands over her ears. It was about to storm and from what she could tell there wasn't any shelter.

"Sun!"

She turned to see Lara running up to her. The brunette was gasping for air and red in the face from running.

"Lara, have you seen anyone else?"

"No, come on, we gotta run!" Lara exclaimed.

"What? Why?"

Before Lara could reply a sound came from where she'd been. It was like a deathly howl, ringing on through the woods as an echo. Lara froze on the spot and went pale white in the face.

"Come on!" she gasped. Her whole body was shaking with fear and fatigue. Sun sighed, then the two ran forward, away from the increasing sounds.

"What're we running from?!"

"A nightmare!"

"Nightmare?"

"I'll explain once we lose it, just keep going!"

They ran past the trees and around bushes. Lara was a bit ahead and leaped over an upcoming log without any trouble. But as Sun leaped there was a flash of light and she found herself in a different forest.

The trees were white with pink leaves. As she stood there, two pops came from behind her. She turned to see Luke and Lavitz.

"Luke," Sun sighed.

"You okay?" Luke asked.

"Yeah. Where's everyone else?"

"I was with Sage just a moment ago."

"I haven't seen Sam or Lara," Lavitz said.

"I was with Lara, something was chasing her," Sun said.

"Chasing her? Like what?"

"I'm not sure. She called it a nightmare. It must've been bad whatever it was, she was shaking in her boots."

Up ahead on the path came the sound of clashing blades. The three looked at each other, nodded then ran forward towards the sound.

* * *

Sam leaped out of the way just in time to avoid being cut clear in half. The shadow figure was very good with a sword. The two continued to strike at each other, only to find the attack was blocked.

"Sam!" Lavitz exclaimed. Sam glanced around quickly and found Lavitz, Luke and Sun standing a short distance away.

"Don't help!" Sam called. "It's one-on-one!"

"Look out!" Sun screamed.

Sam had blocked an attack from the front but a sudden sharp pain rushed through him. His opponent had drawn a knife and stabbed him in the shoulder. The same shoulder that'd originally been slashed open with the Gale Boomerang.

He screamed and crumpled to the ground, clutching his shoulder with his right hand.

"Keep your weaknesses protected," the blond laughed. "You must not know that rule."

Sam grabbed his ax and slashed at the blond's legs. They came clear off from the knee down. The other boy yelled and fell to the ground.

"Now," Sam spattered. "I think that means I win?"

"Yes, I suppose it does. Very well. Follow the sign to the north to reach Nightmare Woods. She's there somewhere."

The blond vanished in a flash of light. Sam pulled a healing potion from his bag, dripped some on the wound and drank the rest. He grabbed his ax, straightened and before the others could stop him, ran into the forest.

* * *

Lara crawled under the roots of a tall thick tree. The roots had been upturned in such a way that a hole stood under the roots and was perfect for hiding.

Footsteps rushed past the tree and continued into the dark forest. Lara sighed and relaxed slightly. She'd been running for a while and her foot was starting to protest.

"Come out little one..." a voice hissed. "I just want to play!"

Lara pressed herself against the earth wall and held her breath to avoid being seen easily. The hole between the roots was just above her head. The dim red moon light fell across the other half of the hole. A dark shadow came across the light then moved away.

She didn't dare move now, whatever was out there might still be close. Something fell through the hole and sat next to Lara. She was about to scream when the figure slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Shh!" Sage's voice hissed. "It's very close." She took away her hand.

"What is it?" Lara whispered.

"The dragon."

"What?"

"The Twilight Dragon."

"Whoa! Hold up! Argorok is here?!"

"If that's it's name, yes."

"Gosh this is more serious than I thought it was."

"Why? Have you met it before?"

"It's from before. When we first met."

"Then how is it here?"

"We never fought it."

"What? How could you not have fought it!?"

"I don't know, there was a time portal and it zapped us to just before we were to enter the Twilight Realm."

"Well do you know how to fight it?"

"Of course!"

"Okay, how?"

"We have to have the Clawshots..."

"Which are back in Hyrule..."

"But we have the Dragoon Spirits. They'll work for what we need to do."

"And how do you plan to get the others here? Clearly you can't fight it off yourself, you're a healer!"

"That's where this little trick comes in." Lara withdrew the white crystal orb from her pocket. "Each of the Spirits can call to each other and the wielders can create a link to see one another."

She held the orb up so it was level with her chin. With a light puff of breath, she let a bit of magic flow through into the spirit. It glowed lightly for a short time then four figures appeared in the glass.

"Lara, where are you?" Sam's voice asked.

"I'm in the forest with Sage. We're trapped! The Twilight Dragon has us stuck under a tree!"

"Do you think you can show us how to get there?" Luke's voice came.

"I was running to fast to notice any landmarks—Ahh!"

There was a crash and soil began to fall in the hole, burying the two girls alive.

"What's wrong?!" Sam exclaimed.

"The dragon is trying to bury us under the tree!" Sage yelled.

"We'll follow the sounds! Stay put, don't move!"

"Hurry!"

The orb grew dim again, drowning the hole in darkness. Another crash from outside sent more dirt in the hole.

"We have to get out!" Lara cried.

"We can't! The dragon will kill us as soon as we go out there!"

"Then what do we do?!"

The crashing suddenly stopped. There were explosions and the sounds of metal clashing against dragon scales. A dragon roared from outside and something struck the tree with such force the majority of the wood collapsed around them.

* * *

They both held their arms out from the opening just to where they could feel the sharp crab grass. The dirt and wood had closed them in to where they couldn't move and could hardly breathe.

"This is a terrible way to die," Sage hissed.

"Yeah," Lara laughed awkwardly.

"At least we gave a fighting chance to ending Seth."

Something tugged at Lara's arm. She lightly pulled back then felt a pair of hands grab hers.

"Someone's trying to pull me out!" Lara gasped. She raised her voice to where she thought she could be heard from outside. "Hey! We're stuck! The soil and the tree have us crushed!"

"Stay still, don't move an inch!" a muffled voice replied.

A few seconds later, what was left of the tree suddenly lifted up from where it sat. Sam stood above them in Dragoon Form holding the tree with both hands.

"Get them out!" he exclaimed. Lavitz jumped down to them and pulled them free from the rubble. Once they were all clear, Sam brought the tree around like a baseball bat and smashed the Twilight Dragon in the head with it.

The deep red dragon screeched. It had black armor in casing it's body. It's red wings glowed from the green Twilight designs etched in the flesh. This dragon was more bird like; wings, tail and back legs but no front legs.

"What the crap is that thing Lara?" Luke exclaimed.

"Argorok, he's the seventh boss in Twilight Princess!" Lara replied.

"And how do we defeat it?"

"We have to use Dragoon magic."

"Right. Sam, Lavitz, we'll take it down! Lara and Sun you two protect Sage and heal us when we need it."

"In other words stay out of the way?" Sun laughed. "Okay, come on guys, get a little farther back."

"Lara don't you dare go into Dragoon form!" Sam shouted as he chugged the tree to the other side of the clearing.

"Well that was...rather protective of him to say," Sage laughed.

"He's just looking out for me," Lara sighed. "...But, they could do with the better healing powers..."

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"If you mean I'm thinking about transforming, yes."

"I won't stop you, but I'm warning you, if you die I'm not gonna try and revive you."

"Good, cause you won't have to."

* * *

She withdrew her Dragoon Spirit, held it outstretched in her hand and silently called on it's power. A ray of light shot down through the trees and engulfed her as her entire outfit exploded into white feathers.

As the feathers juggled and changed they began to form a suit of armor. The light vanished and Lara floated lightly off the ground with her light wings. She was dressed in a white suit of armor, her wings were teal. In her free hand she found a long bow made of the same metal as her armor.

Her wings suddenly failed and she fell to her knees as she panted for breath.

"Are you okay?" Sun asked. She knelt down to become level with Lara.

"I dunno," Lara said then turned to Sage. "You might've been right. The transformation itself took a chunk of energy. I don't see how I can fight like this."

"What do we do then?" Sage asked.

"You two get over there and help them."

"Are you sure?" Sun asked.

"They can't take that thing down by themselves and I can't help them. Go!"

They nodded and ran into the battle. Lara quickly cast a multi-healing spell then lost her Dragoon power. With the majority of the group fighting the dragon, it wasn't long before it was dead. It exploded in a blast of black smoke like it would have in Twilight Princess.

A small stone fell from the blast and floated in front of Sage. It was black-red-and-green. Sage took it and said something to the others.

A hand gripped Lara's shoulders and turned her around to face the other direction. Seth stood just inches before her, so close he could've bitten her with only a second to cry out.

"Sam!" she screamed. Seth smacked a hand over her mouth and held her tightly with the other. The entire forest vanished. They were all standing near the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea.

"Seth! Let her go!" Sam yelled.

"Can't do that," Seth laughed. "I still need her."

"For what? What're you planning?!"

"You mean you haven't told them?" Seth asked Lara. She looked away, not wanting to show her fear. "You haven't." He turned her around again and pulled his hand away. "Do it now! This might be your only chance!"

"I...I placed a curse on each of my creations," Lara sighed. "Just for this sort of thing, if by some random chance of luck they came to life. If they should make an attempt on my life, the curse would start taking place. They'd grow weaker and weaker until they died. The only way to break the curse would be to kill me with their own powers that I originally gave them."

"Sam, you might remember when we first met up with Seth, he nearly killed me with a bite to the neck."

"Yeah," Sam replied.

"That was what triggered the curse. Seth's been growing weaker and weaker as each day has gone by. But thanks to the Twilight Magic Zant placed in him, it's only just started to take real effect. He needs to kill me before he dies himself. Otherwise he'll never be able to regain physical form."

"Now, don't you think that was just a stupid idea to think of?" Seth laughed. "But then again, you were just twelve when you thought of it. And since it's permanent, it can't be changed."

"But," Lara continued. "If he should attack me with a power I didn't give him, it'll kill him at once. Same effect as if he'd been unable to kill me with his own power."

"Enough talking," Seth growled. "So, what'll it be? Strangling? Stabbing? Maybe just cut your head off? So many choices I can't decide what to do. But there's one thing I'd like to do before I bring and end to you."

Seth turned her around to face him, lifted her head slightly upwards, leaned forward--A sudden rush of wind shot past. Seth was pulled away and held a foot above the ground.

Sam had grabbed him from behind. He walked to the edge of the cliff and chucked the vampire over the ledge. The vampire's scream was soon lost amongst the waves far below.

"Are you okay?" Sam sighed as he turned back to Lara.

"Y-yeah," Lara coughed. "Let's find a way out of this."

There was a flash of light, then utter chill in the darkness. Lara blinked her eyes open to find Sam lying next to her and clutching her hand. She sat up and found the others weren't too far off.

They were in the middle of a snow covered field. A light snow-fall came down from the gray clouds above. To the north stood a forest and beyond that was a grand tower made of ice.

"Sam," Lara whispered as her teeth began to chatter from the bitter cold. "Wake up!"

Sam opened his eyes and looked at her for a second. He sat up and had a look of confusion.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know," Lara replied. She pulled her hand out of his grasp and pulled her legs up to let her chin rest on her knees. "All I know is I'm freezing."

"Guys! Wake up!" Sam exclaimed.

One by one the others woke up and sat up to look around.

"Where are we?" Luke asked.

"The land of never-ending snow," Sam replied. "I don't remember the real name of it though."

"So what now?" Sage asked.

"We gotta go through that forest," Sam said as he pointed north. "Get to the tower beyond it."


	18. Snowy Landscape

The deep pine forest went on for miles. The snow was thick in the air and almost two feet stood on the ground. As the group trudged through the icy chill they each were quickly losing whatever strength had been left for them.

"Tell me again why we didn't just go around the forest?" Lara asked.

"There isn't a way around," Sam replied. "On either side there's a mountain or the ocean."

"We won't be able to go much farther," Sage said. "Even with the increasing powers of the Dragoons we're all going to pass out within a short amount of time. We need to find somewhere to rest."

"I don't remember there being any caves in this forest though."

"Doesn't need to be a cave, just a large boulder will help."

"What do you plan on blasting a cave out of it?"

"Yes actually."

"It won't do us any good if someone passed out from exhaustion," Lavitz said. "It might be okay for Sun, she's light. But Sage is six feet tall and Lara-"

"Another word and I'll cut your tongue out," Lara hissed.

"Let's just keep going all right?" Luke grumbled. "I feel like I haven't eaten in days."

"Probably because you haven't. This far inland would have taken at least two days walking."

They continued stumbling through the snow. Soon the path was completely covered by snow and the whirling wind was so foggy Sam couldn't see more than two feet ahead.

"Sam, we need to stop," Lara coughed. "It won't help if we all catch colds or worse flu. There's no proper medicines here, we'd all probably die."

"I know..." Sam sniffed. He could feel a cold coming on. "But I haven't seen anyplace that'd protect all of us."

"What about that?"

"What?"

"See? Over there. A fire."

Sam turned to look where she was pointing. A single small flame like from a lamp shined through the fog and came towards them.

A short time later, two soldiers came into sight. Both wore gray uniforms and each carried a short sword. One held a small lamp to help find their way around.

"What're you kids doing out here?" one of them asked. "It's dangerous!"

"Come with us," the other replied. "We'll give you shelter for the night."

Sam turned to the others. Each nodded in desperation to finally have a rest.

"A-all right," Sam said. "Lead the way."

"This is the spare cabin," the guard said. "The storm will pass by morning, we'll get a few men together to escort you to the city then."

"Thank you!" Lara sighed. The two soldiers left, closing the door behind them. Lara turned to face the interior of the cabin. It was a common log, single-roomed building.

A bed stood along each of the walls, giving four people beds. Next to the door was a large stone fireplace with a blazing fire dancing with heat.

"Okay, Luke and Sun will share a bed," Lavitz began. "Sage and I shall share a bed, then Sam and Lara will each have separate beds."

"I'm gonna sit by the fire for a bit," Lara said.

"Alright," Sun said. "Night."

"Night."

The others each got into their beds and quickly fell asleep. Sam hadn't moved yet.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, not really..."

"It's Seth, right?"

"It's my own idiot idea." Lara sat in front of the fireplace and looked into the flames. "I should have known Seth was smart enough to figure it out."

"...But that's not all of it."

"No, it's not. He's becoming irrational, taking stupid risks and the like."

"Do you know why he tried to get so close to you?"

"I have no idea what's in his head anymore. When we started this, he was a sneaky little scum bag. Now, he's something completely new that I didn't create."

"So, for all you know-" Sam sat down next to her. "-some evil could have twisted him into something worse than he already was."

"Pretty much."

"It'll be okay." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "We'll take him down together. That's how this whole mess started anyhow, wasn't it?"

"Us working together or us trying to defeat Seth?"

"I dunno." They chuckled about it for a short time, then fell silent again.

"I'm going to go to bed," Lara said.

"Okay," Sam dropped his arm to let Lara stand up. "G'night."

"Night." Lara stood, walked over to a spare bed and flopped down onto it. Within just a few minutes she was asleep.

* * *

Early the next morning the group got directions to the city from the soldiers, thanked them again and set out. They didn't want to wait another hour for the escort to arrive.

The storm had broken in the middle of the night, but a light snow continued to fall. The evergreen pines were covered with thick piles of snow and long slick icicles. A few trees had fallen along the path, but nothing was terribly damaged.

"With any luck, we'll reach the city by mid day," Lavitz said.

"We'd better have luck," Luke sighed. "I'm not ready for another snow storm like last night."

Sure enough, near noon time, they reached the crystal city. The low classed buildings were made of simple white stone. Mid-classed were both wood and stone. The castle was a tower made purely of blue crystals, reaching almost as tall as the Empire State Building in New York City.

"We have to talk to the queen I suppose," Sam said.

"Do I have to go?" Lara growled.

"I'd prefer if we all stay together, yeah."

"But, you know what's gonna happen in the castle."

"What?"

"Miranda."

"Oh! I forgot all about that bit."

"What're you two talking about?" Luke asked.

"Well, originally, when the party reached the castle and spoke with the queen, the White-Silver Dragoon spirit left Shana and joined with Miranda, the First-Sacred Daughter. Miranda ended up joining the group, Shana stayed behind then was kidnapped by—Oh, that's why you're so worried about this. Not so much about losing the Dragoon spirit, but getting kidnapped."

"Yeah," Lara replied.

"You can't go in then."

"That's what I was trying to tell ya."

"Okay, change in plans. Luke, Sun, you come with me. Sage and Lavitz and want you two to guard Lara."

"Guard her from what exactly?" Sage asked.

"Lloyd, Seth, the female vampire, pretty much anyone that might have some dark intentions."

"And you think we can find those few in this giant crowd?"

"Just do it, okay?"

"Fine."

"Oh! And just in case you see any, steer very clear of any orange haired girls wearing white."

"Sam, for goodness sake, go! We'll get a room at the inn."

"Okay, we'll be back in a little bit."


	19. The Crystal City

"You've got to regain your magic Lara!" Sage exclaimed. Sage sat on one of the three beds in the room. Lara sat directly across from her on the next bed. "We need your Dragoon healing powers!"

"I know, but what else can I do other than use magic?" Lara replied.

"You can shoot a bow-"

"-Only reason for that is I have Shana and Miranda's archer skills woven into the Dragoon Spirit."

There was a hollow knock at the door. Sage leaped to her feet and cracked the door open just slightly. She nodded then opened the door complete as the other three walked in.

"What's going on?" Luke asked.

"I'm trying to get Lara to mentally recover her magic."

"What, are you trying to use hypnotism?" Sam asked.

"Yeah."

"Don't even bother with that, she's practically immune to being hypnotized."

"No one is immune to the hypnotist skills of an elf. Half or full blood."

"What did the queen say?" Lara asked. "I don't really know what happens next."

"We have to go north to the Winglie city," Sam replied.

"That might be a problem."

"I explained to Sun what she has to do."

"Lets try this again," Sage said. She sat down again and held up her right hand in a fist, with her index finger extended. "Focus on the tip of my finger."

"This won't work."

"Yes it will! Just focus."

"No, you know what? We should be focusing on getting through this and getting home again!" Lara groaned. She stood up and went to the window.

"And how are we gonna do that if-" Sage began.

"Don't," Sam sighed. He placed a hand on Sage's shoulder. "She's been through more than you think."

"How can she have been through more than me? I don't have a history at all before Zant brought me to life!"

"Exactly. You don't have memories of your past that haunt you everywhere you go."

Sage fell silent at that.

"What the..." Lara began to say. "Sam, what's that?"

"What's what?"

"That!" She pointed out the window towards the sky.

Sam let his hand fall from Sage's shoulder and he walked to stand beside Lara. He looked outside towards the gray sky. Coming straight for the city, was the tallest of the dragons of Endiness. The Divine Dragon. The white and red dragon with six wings and two mouths.

"Oh no..." Sam sighed.

"We're screwed, aren't we?" Lara asked.

"Yes. Okay, guys!" Sam turned to the others, who'd each gone about splitting up the supplies into six small piles. "We need to move. Now."

"Why, what's wrong?" Sun asked.

"The worst thing possible has happened. The Divine Dragon is already free from it's prison!"

"And that means what exactly?" Luke asked.

"We are _royally_ screwed."

"Grab all of the gear, don't leave anything behind!" Lavitz exclaimed.

"Sam, won't it be safer inside?" Lara asked. She was still looking out the window, watching the dragon.

"No where is gonna be safe with that thing on the loose."

"Well...I think we're gonna have a bigger problem than before."

"Why?"

"Look."

The entire group gathered around the window, looking out towards the sky. The dragon had continued getting closer and closer, but now they could see clearly that someone is riding the creature.

"Is that-?" Sage gasped.

"Seth," Luke growled.

"He's taken control of the dragon?" Lavitz pondered.

"And I'm sure he's after Lara," Sun sighed.

"Well, he can't have her!" Sam snarled. He grabbed Lara's hand and pulled slightly to get Lara to look at him. "I promise, I won't let him take you."

"But...Maybe it would be better for everyone if I just gave up," Lara said.

"What?"

"Lara, what're you saying?" Sage gasped.

"You can't just give up!" Luke exclaimed.

"If I give myself up, the rest of you can focus on reaching Zieg and getting home," Lara insisted.

"We can't leave you here to die!"

"Hello, 'Crystal City'!" a voice yelled from outside. It was Seth's voice. They all turned back to look outside. Seth and the dragon had reached the very center of the city, standing in the market square. "I'm looking for a girl. If she comes out swiftly and without a fight, I will leave this city standing. But if she doesn't...well, let's just say there will be a graveyard here instead of a city."

All around the city, townspeople screamed and ran to try and escape the city or find loved ones. Seth stood upon the scaled back of the dragon and laughed in triumph. He knew perfectly well Lara's reaction to his threats.

"I don't have a choice now," Lara growled.

"But, Lara-" Sam began.

"No, Sam. There's no other way to get out of this." Lara moved away from the window and stood beside the bed as she began to empty her bag. "I won't be needing this stuff. You guys take all of it."

Her bag had several healing potions, attack items and magic restoration drinks. She unbuckled the sheathes for her twin daggers off her belt and placed the weapons on the bed beside the vials of liquid.

"Sam, when you get back home," Lara sighed. She turned to look at him. "Make sure you tell my family what happened. That I didn't die for no reason."

"I... Don't worry, I will," Sam replied. He stepped forward and held her in a tight hug. "I'll find a way to bring you back."

"I know." Lara pushed herself out of Sam's grasp so she could say her good-byes to the others.

"Don't you dare die until we get there to save you," Sage sniffed. "Got it, kid?"

"Got it."

"Lara, be careful," Luke sighed. Lara nodded in reply.

"I'll miss you!" Sun sobbed. She hugged Lara for a few seconds, then let go. "Please don't die!"

"I'll do my best not to, Sun," Lara replied.

"Lara," Lavitz began. He brought his legs together, standing at attention and brought his right arm up, in the fashion of saluting. "It's been an honor serving with you, ma'am."

"You too, Lavitz."

Lara walked to the door and opened it.

"Lara!" Sam exclaimed. Lara stopped and turned to look at him. "You're my best friend. I promise, I'll save you."

"I know. But, now it's all in God's control."

She walked out and closed the door behind her. Sam stood there in a wave of overwhelming sadness and rage.

"You should have told her," Luke said.

"What?" Sam turned to look at him.

"How you feel."

"I just did."

"Not from where I'm standing you didn't."

"Look, there she is!" Sun gasped. The five gathered around the window again, looking down at the streets below. Lara pushed her way through the rushing crowds, coming closer to the market square.

Finally she broke free of the crowds and found herself standing at the edge of the clearing of buildings. She stood face to face with Seth and the dragon.

"Where are your friends?" Seth asked. He jumped down from the dragon's back and walked towards her. "Not planning a sneak attack, I hope."

"No. I came alone. And unarmed." Lara replied. "This is between you and me. I told them not to get involved."

"Good. Just how I like it. Serena, get out here!"

From behind one of the wings of the massive dragon, the female vampire stepped out into view.

"You!" Lara growled.

"Don't try anything, girl," Serena laughed. "I've got a clear fix on your boyfriend. One word and his hearing aids could explode again. But, it might be a bit more...bloody than the last time."

"What? You wouldn't dare-!"

"If you don't put up a fight, he'll be fine."

"...All right. Do what you will. Just leave him out of this!"

"Good girl," Seth smirked. "Hold still, this might hurt a bit."

"What might-?" Lara began to ask. A sudden piercing pain rushed through her body, paralyzing her on the spot. She could feel the electricity running through her organs, muscles and bones.

It was short, but powerful. She could feel each of her vital organs as they began to fail in each of their duties. Her legs gave way under her and she fell to the ground. She couldn't move anything, she couldn't even blink.

"Lovely," Seth laughed. He stepped forward and knelt down, bringing his face almost level to hers. "Won't be any trouble killing you now." He straightened up to sit on his knees and rolled Lara over on her back.

In one swift movement, he scooped her up from the stone floor and stood up to his full height.

"We're leaving now," he proclaimed. He looked down at Lara. "Time for you to take a long rest, my dear." He whispered something Lara couldn't make out, but she had an idea of what it had been. She was correct. Rushing fatigue over took her and drowned her in darkness.


	20. Tower of the Desert

"We have to go after them!" Sam yelled.

"Sam, calm down," Luke growled. "Yelling isn't going to do anything about it."

"Sitting here deciding what to do next isn't going to do anything either!"

"The only way we're gonna be able to rescue Lara is if we put our heads together," Lavitz pointed out. "You know what happens next, right?"

"No, not anymore. We were supposed to kill the Divine Dragon, which would eventually lead us to the tree of life, or whatever it's called."

"But if you know where it is," Sage began. "Why don't we just go there now?"

"Wait, we could just activate the spirits, can't we?" Sun asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Like we had done before to communicate. We can look through Lara's spirit and see where she's been taken!"

"That might work."

"No it won't," Sam groaned. "She's got to be able to pick it up."

"Well, I say we go to where this tree of life is supposed to be," Luke said. "We'd have to go there anyway, wouldn't we?"

"Yeah. The problem is, it's in the next region."

"So?"

"It's a desert. If we measured it, it's about the same length as the Virginia-North Carolina state lines down to the end of Georgia."

"Are you serious?" Luke asked. The others each had a look of shock.

"Yeah. I don't even know the exact location of the tree and we don't have time to search the entire desert."

"Uh, Sam?" Lavitz asked.

"What?"

"Why is your bag glowing?"

Sam looked down at the bag at his waist to see it was glowing with a golden brown light. He opened it and pulled out his Dragoon spirit. It stopped glowing as soon as he picked it up.

"What was that?" Sun pondered.

A flash of light exploded from the small crystal orb, showing a map of some sort. Mountains separating the land into four sections, a desert to the west, oceans all around.

"It's a map of Endiness!" Lavitz exclaimed. "Look, here's Bale in the east country!"

"But what're these little lights here?" Sage asked. She pointed to five glowing lights that were in the same spot as the capital city in Denningard; the land of never-ending snow.

Sam reached out and tapped the spot on the map. The entire map zoom in to show a map of the city itself. Now they could clearly see, that the five lights were each a different color. Red, green, light blue, black and golden brown. They were inside the room of the inn.

"I think that's us," Sam concluded.

"So this map can show us where we all are..." Luke began. "What if it can show where Lara is?"

"Worth a shot." Sam quickly backed out from the city map and focused it's attention to the desert. "There!"

Heading south towards the very center of the desert was the other three lights. White, purple and dark blue.

"We can track them!" Sage laughed.

"Then lets get moving!" Lavitz proclaimed.

* * *

The moon began to rise just as the group finally cleared the mountain pass. It had taken them two days to navigate the ice slopes. Before them stood the long, endless desert. The sand glimmered in the moonlight, almost as brightly as it would have in the middle of the day.

"How far is it?" Sage asked.

"A couple hundred miles, give or take," Sam replied. "We can make it in a few hours if we fly."

"Won't we need our Dragoon powers for fighting?" Luke asked.

"Hopefully we have enough power to fly us there and to fight. Otherwise, we're gonna be using our own abilities."

In a flash of light, they each transformed into their Dragoon armors. This was Sage's first time using her new power. Her armor was identical to Sun's, but it was black. Her wings glowed red and green. Tied at her waist was a long, elegant blade that looked to be made of a dragon tooth.

"Impressive," Lavitz commented.

"How the heck am I supposed to control the wings?" Sage growled.

"You'll get the hang of it after a little practice."

After a short few minutes of flight instruction, the group headed out across the desert, staying about ten feet above the sand. Every twenty minutes or so, Sam would check the map to make sure they were still going in the right direction.

'I hope we make it in time...' Sam thought to himself.

"Sam! It's the Divine Dragon!" Luke shouted, pulling Sam from his train of thought.

He glanced to his left to see the creature speeding towards them. It's body was far above them, but it's mouth was level with them, slowly opening to gulp them down into it's stomach.

"Keep going straight!" Sam called. He broke off from the others, turning directly into the path of the dragon. "I'll hold him off!"

"No, _you _keep going straight, Sam!" Lavtiz yelled. The other four flew forward and blocked Sam's path. "The four of us can handle this thing."

"But-"

"You have to save Lara, remember?" Sun laughed. "Get moving!"

"...Thanks guys. Be careful!"

Without another word, the four sped off to face the dragon. Each had their weapons in hand. Sam continued on the original path towards the flashing lights on the map.

Time seemed to flash by as he flew across the white sand. Sooner than he realized, he saw his destination. It wasn't the orb of the tree of life. Instead it was a brown stone tower, standing some third of a mile in height.

'That's new...' Sam growled in his mind. He gripped his ax in both hands. 'Oh well. Start from the top, and work it down to the bottom.'

He changed course, heading straight for the top of the tower. As he thought, it was completely enclosed with no windows to see inside. Sam landed lightly on the top of the tower. He could see clearly that the tower has enormous, close to thirty yards in diameter.

Sam raised his ax above his head and swung it down into the stone.

* * *

"So, my dear," Seth hissed. "How shall we go about this?"

"I should think, something painful would be lovely," Serena laughed. "Why not dissect her while she's still alive?"

"An interesting idea."

Seth and Serena had brought Lara to their hiding place. It was once a ruin, but they had built it back up and turned it into the perfect place. No one could find it!

They were in the top floor of their tower. There wasn't much in this room. A long stone table in the middle, shelves filled with various tools of torture and the entire room was illuminated by lights running along the walls, pointing towards the opposite wall.

Lara had woken some time ago and was held down on the table by a force field. She didn't struggle to free herself, or try to trick her way out of this. No, she'd given up hope of being rescued. There was nothing left for her to do.

"Lost all hope?" Seth asked. He walked over to the table and leaned against it, coming down to Lara's level. "Why don't you cry?"

"Why don't you go take a hike?" Lara growled. "I'm not going to cry. Just get this over with."

"Fine. Serena, get the tools."

At that moment the ceiling suddenly caved in near the south side of the room. Seth stood up and looked to the pile of rubble. What had that been? Then he saw the cause of the collapse. Sam had found the tower, smashed it in and stood ready to fight.

"Lara!" Sam shouted.

"Sam?" Lara gasped. She turned herself to the point that she could see him. "What're you doing here?"

"Rescuing you, duh!"

"Well, well," Seth sighed. "This is a surprise. How did you find us?"

"Like I'd tell you."

"True. Why would you. Obviously you're here for Lara. But unfortunately for you, I'm not going to give her up that easily."

Seth was engulfed in a black light for a few short seconds. Once it died down, Sam found himself facing the half vampire in the Divine Dragoon and Dark Dragoon armors combined. Somehow, he had found a way to put the spirits together to make them more powerful! In his left hand he held a long, black dagger.

"Bring it on then!" Sam growled.

The two rushed forward, striking at each other with their weapons. Sam was at the low end of this battle, but he wasn't going to give up without giving it his all.

With a quick twist of both wrists, Sam smashed Seth's face with the side of his ax. Seth recoiled a few steps, shaking off the pain from the attack. That was it, an opening!

Sam sped forward, bringing the ax around to slash the vampire in half. Seth's powerful wings flapped once and lifted him far from Sam's range of attack.

"Nice try," Seth hissed. He looked down at Sam and grinned, his sharp canines clearly showing. "But you'll have to do better than that!"

Sam quickly gathered his magic energy and sent it into the stone just below Seth. In a matter of seconds, stones from the floor shot up and smashed into Seth, dealing a good bit of damage.

Seth quickly deflected the last few blocks of stone, some of them landing just feet from the table Lara was pinned to.

"Be careful," Seth began. "Wouldn't want to kill your own friend, would you?"

Sam hesitated for a second. If the battle kept on like this, Lara might get hurt or killed in the process. That was all Seth needed. In the blink of an eye, Sam felt a sharp pain dig deep in his stomach.

He looked straight into Seth's eyes, then down to find Seth's sharp dagger was buried deep in his armor, red liquid slowly seeping out.

"Sam!" Lara screamed.

"It's over," Seth laughed. He left the dagger where it was as he backed away a few paces.

Sam fell to his knees, clutching his stomach to try and stop the bleeding. He lost hold of his Dragoon spirit and reverted to his normal outfit. He looked up at Seth, the vampire was charging a spell that would most likely kill Sam.

"Any last words?" Seth asked.

"Not really," Sam coughed. Blood filled his mouth, leaking out from the corners of his lips.

Seth released the energy, shooting the ray directly at Sam. A sudden flash of white came out of no where and stood between the attack and Sam. The Silver-White Dragoon.

"L-Lara!" Sam gasped.

"What?" Seth cried. "I-impossible!"

It was too late. The magic attack hit Lara square in the chest, slamming her on her back to the floor. A black burn spread across the chest plate of her armor.

"No!" Serena yelled. Sam glanced a look at the girl to find she was quickly disintegrating to dust. "Seth, darling!"

"It'll be over soon Serena!" Seth exclaimed. He too was fading away to dust. He looked back at Lara. "Damn girl."

The two faded away, leaving nothing but their clothes and their Dragoon spirits behind. Sam sighed. It was over!

* * *

"Lara, you did it!" he laughed. He looked at her, she was to his left. She hadn't moved an inch. "Lara?"

Sam couldn't feel blood anymore from his stomach. He looked down to find his clothes were ripped, but the wound was healed. He crawled over to Lara and picked her up enough for her to lean against his chest.

"Lara?" he asked again. Her eyes stayed shut. It seemed as if she weren't breathing. He glanced down at the burns across her tunic. The fabric had disintegrated and Sam could now clearly see how much damage had been done.

The burns were beyond fourth degree and had eaten through each layer of skin until it reached her rib cage. Her heart was burned to some extent, as well as her lungs.

"No!" Sam gasped. "Lara, you can't be-" He couldn't stop the sudden wave of tears from running down his face. "You can't be dead!"

He hugged her tightly, refusing to let her die. But what could he do? There wasn't enough blood to keep her body running properly, there was no way to do CPR or to even get air into her lungs at this point. For all he knew her esophagus might be melted on the inside!

"There's nothing I can do..." Sam cried. He suddenly felt cold and wet from where he was sitting. He looked up to see the room was flooding with water. "Crap!"

Sam quickly turned off his hearing aids and put them in the bag. He pulled out a blanket and wrapped Lara in it, hoping that perhaps the blanket would keep water out of her body. He held her tightly, making sure his chest was over hers to help with keeping her dry.

In a sudden flash, the small trickle became a wave, crashing down on Sam and Lara, dragging them into the darkness of the deep waters. Sam began to swim up, something felt strange about the water. There wasn't as much pressure as there should have been for that small amount of space.

Sam broke the surface of the water, gasping for air. He found himself just off shore of a sandy beach. It looked to be summer time, where ever he was. He swam towards the shore, keeping Lara close to him.

It took him nearly an hour to reach the beach. He lightly placed Lara on the sand, away from the water. She still wasn't breathing.

Sam sighed and lied down on the sand next to her. Maybe they were home, maybe they were somewhere on earth. She could have a proper funeral.

He held her cold hand, willing his own warmth to spread through her. But nothing happened. Sam closed his eyes. He was tired. He couldn't remember when the last time he had a nap was. Fatigue overtook him.


End file.
